Olive Oil - Identifying Real Olive Oil

Olive oil is a supremely healthy food. It is great for cooking, but the high price of real oil means there are usually a lot of cheaper options on the shelf. It turns out, those options are not all equal, but one can tell the difference. It seems that much of the extra virgin olive oil exported from Italy has been cut with cheap vegetable oil and then colored to look like the real stuff. This excellent all-purpose oil has  high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, it's stable at high temperatures, and it tastes great. Olive oil that's been diluted with soybean oil, on the other hand, is none of those things...and a waste of money besides.

Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is a seasoning of traditional Italian and Mediterranean cuisine which is present every day on the tables of several countries. But do we really know how to choose a quality olive oil? Beware of non-transparent labels, which are written in small characters, and which are not clear about the origin of products. Labels must show the production process, the place of production and product characteristics. Food labels must meet three basic characteristics: they must be clear, legible and indelible. As for the extra virgin olive oil, for example, it must include the name of the product, the nominal volume and the expiry date for consumption. Authentic extra-virgin olive oil,  takes a lot of time, expense, and labor to make. On the flip side, it’s quick, cheap, and easy to doctor it. The most common form of adulteration comes from mixing extra virgin olive oil with cheaper, lower-grade oils. 

Unfortunately you cant simply go by taste alone. So if you can’t go by taste alone, how can you tell?

First, extra-virgin olive oil ought to comprise of mostly monounsaturated fat that grows more solid when cold. If you put a real extra-virgin olive oil in the refrigerator, it ought to become thick and cloudy as it cools completely (some oils made from high-wax olive varieties will even solidify). It should be noted, however, that this is not a fail-proof test. That’s because adulterated oils may also become thick and cloudy in the refrigerator. After all, some adulterated extra-virgin olive oils are cut with low-grade, refined olive oil. Those would still clump up. Other adulterated extra-virgin olive oils are cut with just enough of the cheaper oils that they’ll still be mostly olive oil, so they’ll have some clumping, too. If, however, the oil you put in the fridge fails to thicken at all (still appearing as clear and runny as it did at room temperature), then you know something certain: that it’s fake!

Second, extra-virgin olive oil ought to be flammable enough to keep an oil lamp burning. Again, this isn’t a fail-proof test, and for the same reasons. But, it is certain that if your so-called “extra virgin olive oil” doesn’t keep a wick burning, it isn’t extra-virgin at all, but instead contains refined oils.

About the taste? Prepare yourself. Real olive oil – will be powerful and peppery and it will catch in your throat. You may cough, your eyes may water. But these are in fact good indications that what you’re tasting – finally! – is authentic. It is also full of the reasons, especially flavor and health, that we were drawn to olive oil in the first place.

No completely fail proof test exist. Then where to find real Olive Oil?

Visit our gourmet online store which guarantees quality and standards for its  product.

Visit olivetreetrading.com to purchase / for more information on our products.