Recently, a loyal blog follower submitted an inquiry about olive oil and her questions led to this week’s blog.
The reader was interested in knowing how to choose the best olive oil product in relation to what kind of food she is making and putting it in, what method of cooking she is using it for, and which type of olive oil provides the most health benefits.
Wow! Until researching for this blog, I never realized the complexities involved in purchasing and consuming the correct type or should I say, grade, of olive oil!
This blog will specifically only discuss olive oil and not olive-pomace oil.
Can you Believe that selling olive oil is so lucrative that there is actually global fraud involving selling “fake” unhealthy oil labeled and sold as regular or extra virgin olive oil?
Surprisingly this happens at an alarming rate, so it is important to understand how to identify whether or not you are purchasing the real liquid gold or something bottled to look just like it.
I've put together the following slide gallery for this week's blog that hopefully answers many of your questions.
Following the slideshow, you'll find pictures of the Bottle and labels on the olive oil brand I purchase, so you can see an example.
Finally, there is a list of links to many great resources for you to learn more than you ever thought you could about olive oil.
One of the links is to a very nice short vimeo about shopping for extra virgin olive oil, that I found to be really informative.
Enjoy!
This is the front label of the bottle. Notice it states Extra Virgin Olive Oil, First Cold Pressed, is a dark bottle to stop the light from going through to degrade the oil, and it tells me what country the olives were grown in, or country of origin.
This is the back label, which again certifies that the olives were grown and pressed in Italy
Links:
Article organic vs non organic http://www.centrafoods.com/blog/organic-olive-oil-vs-non-organic
Best Food Facts https://www.bestfoodfacts.org/olive-oil-myths/
California Olive Oil Council https://www.cooc.com/
California Olive Oil Council VIMEO “Shopping for Extra Virgin Olive Oil” https://vimeo.com/154120118
California Olive Ranch https://californiaoliveranch.com/2009/09/08/what-does-first-cold-pressed-olive-olive-oil-really-mean/
Cleveland Clinic https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/10/heart-healthy-cooking-oils-101/
Dietitians of Australia https://daa.asn.au/smart-eating-for-you/smart-eating-fast-facts/food-and-food-products/extra-virgin-olive-oil-the-latest-update/
Festival Foods https://www.festfoods.com/blog/the-dietitians-top-pick-essential-everyday-extra-virgin-olive-oil
Fraudulent Extra Virgin Olive Oil https://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/adulterated-fraudulent-extra-virgin-olive-oil
International Olive Council, Spain http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/
MooScience http://mooscience.com/Oleic-Acid.html
National Consumers League, Olive oil mislabeling: Are consumers catching on? http://www.nclnet.org/evoo
North American Olive Oil Association http://www.aboutoliveoil.org/index.html
Olive Oil Times https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/
Pompeian Oil: http://www.pompeian.com/oil-101/olive-oil-faq.aspx
Olive Oil Seal Programs https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/olive-oil-quality-seals/34742
UC Davis Olive Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil Grades and Standards https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/olive-oil-and-olive-pomace-oil-grades-and-standards
USDA Quality Monitoring Program Expands to Olive Oil https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/04/3/quality-monitoring-program-expands-olive-oil
Worlds Healthiest Foods http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=132