How To Buy The Best Olive Oil

10 Tips to Choosing and Using the Healthiest Type

 

Olive oil is heart-healthy and tastes great too. But many Americans use poor-quality – even adulterated – oil and don’t know it. These 10 tips for choosing olive oil will help you get the best product for your money…

When it comes to a healthy diet, few foods are more celebrated than olive oil. It’s chock-full of antioxidants called polyphenols that have anti-inflammatory, heart-smart benefits.

In fact, the more extra-virgin olive oil people consume, the lower their risk for heart disease, according to a large-scale European study published in May 2014.

There’s probably a bottle in your kitchen right now. But is it as good as you think? Is it even 100% olive oil?

Maybe not.

Here’s one way to tell: Open that bottle of olive oil and take a whiff. What does it smell like?

Herbal? Grassy? Peppery?

Like dirty socks?

If it’s the latter, then your olive oil is substandard and possibly adulterated. It may have gone bad too.

Many people can’t detect rancid olive oil, so they keep using it, says Mary Platis, a specialist in Greek cuisine and co-author of Cooking Techniques With Olive Oil (Two Extra Virgins).

If that includes you, don’t worry – even experts have a tough time choosing olive oil correctly.

“I’m challenged myself to find good-quality olive oil,” admits Timothy S. Harlan, M.D., author of Just Tell Me What to Eat! (Da Capo Lifelong Books) and executive director of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.

“Much of what’s coming into the country that’s touted as extra-virgin olive oil isn’t,” he says.

Plus, the quality of olive oil in supermarkets is low, adds Dan Flynn, executive director of the University of California-Davis Olive Center in California, which researches olive products.

Nearly 70% of imported olive oil samples failed to meet minimum sensory standards for extra-virgin olive oil, and had defects ranging from rancidity to adulteration with cheaper refined oils, a 2010 UC Davis study found.

So don’t be fooled. Here’s how to choose the best-quality olive oil.

1. Learn your terminology.

Unscrupulous producers can sell poor-quality oil because most Americans just don’t know better. But reading the label can tell you a lot – if you know what to look for. Here are some terms that offer clues to quality.

Extra-virgin olive oil: This is the least-refined form of olive oil, made from the first cold-pressing of olives. It’s also the highest in antioxidants. If it’s certified by the International Olive Council (IOC) or California Olive Oil Council (COOC), you know it meets minimum requirements – including a lack of flavor defects and low acidity (a measure of quality olives and good processing practices).

Virgin olive oil: This is also made from the first cold-pressing of the olives, but is considered to be lower in quality than extra-virgin because it has slightly higher acidity.

Fino olive oil: This is a blend of extra-virgin and virgin olive oil, and is usually more affordable than extra-virgin. Its quality and acidity is between that of extra virgin and virgin olive oil (from 0.8% to 2%). Dr. Harlan likes it for everyday cooking.

Pure olive oil: Nearly half of consumers think “pure olive oil” is the highest-quality stuff on the market.

It’s not, according to UC Davis research.

Instead, it’s a blend of a bit of virgin olive oil and a lot of highly refined oil (often processed with chemical solvents) made from leftover olive pomace, or solid matter, that remains after virgin olive oil is produced.

Light, lite or extra-light olive oil: This sounds like a healthy choice, right? It’s not.

“Light” refers to a neutral color and flavor – it has the same calories and fat as other olive oils, Dr. Harlan says.

And its quality is as bad as “pure” olive oil.

“It’s highly refined oil that can be mixed with other types of oil,” says Patricia Darragh, COOC’s executive director.

“Made in Italy,” “bottled in Italy,” “imported from Italy.” Italy produces some of the world’s most glorious olive oil.

It also exports some of the world’s worst.

A recent New York Times story detailed fraud in the Italian olive oil industry, including bottling and selling olive oil from elsewhere in the Mediterranean as “Italian” and, worse, combining it with other types of oils, such as soybean and nut oils.

That’s bad news for any consumer and potentially dangerous for someone with a food allergy.

If you see terms like these on a label, check the ingredient list, which must include the country – or countries – where the oil is produced.

2. Make sure it’s fresh.

The most important quality of olive oil is freshness. Even a top-quality extra-virgin olive oil will taste terribly when it starts to go bad.

“Think of extra-virgin olive oil as fruit juice,” Flynn says. “As with any other juice, freshness is important.”

Unfortunately, many people don’t know what high-quality olive oil tastes like.

“Most consumers are familiar with rancid, musty oil – that’s what they associate with extra-virgin olive oil – and they think that’s what it should taste like,” Flynn says.

Fresh olive oil “should give you the impression of salad greens rather than a can of varnish,” he explains.

Freshness affects nutrition too. The fresher the oil, the more antioxidants it will have.

To learn what fresh olive oil tastes like, sample different olive oils at specialty shops. Ask the staff to explain how each one gets its unique flavor.

3. Know the harvest date.

If you can’t taste an oil, a harvest date on the label is the best indicator of freshness. Not every manufacturer provides one, but such labeling is becoming more common.

Look for olives harvested within the last 12 months, 15 at most.

“Best by” or “best before” dates are more likely to be on the label, but they’re less reliable.

Depending on the producer, that “best by” date can be two years or more after the harvest date, Platis says.

Even top-quality olive oil can go rancid long before that, she says.

4. Choose the right container.

“Avoid clear bottles – and never buy olive oil in plastic,” Darragh says.

That’s because clear bottles let in light, which degrades the oil and shortens its shelf life, according to 2005 tests published in European Food Research and Technology.

Plastic is permeable, and may expose the oil to air.

Instead, look for oil packaged in tin or dark green glass; both help protect it from light and oxygen.

Another tip from Darragh: Skip bottles on the top shelf, because those have been exposed to the most light.

5. Know the origin.

Great olive oil is made all over the planet – Greece, Tunisia, South Africa, Australia, South America and, of course, Italy. As with wine, each area provides unique flavor characteristics to the oils.

Spain is the world’s largest producer, and Dr. Harlan prefers Spanish olive oil for its pleasant grassy flavor.

Platis is a fan of oil from Greece, because of its robust taste and high antioxidant content.

But don’t overlook American olive oil. California produces 90% of the olive oil in the U.S., but other states, including Texas and Georgia, also make high-quality oils.

California olive oils, most of which are certified by the COOC, are typically milled within 24 hours of harvest, and many carry harvest dates on their labels.

6. Look for certification.

Producers who take care with their oil often have it certified by the IOC or, if it’s a California oil, the COOC. That labeling guarantees the oil meets minimum quality standards for extra-virgin olive oil at production time.

But it’s not a guarantee of freshness, Flynn warns. Even great olive oil will go bad if it’s not stored properly.

7. Don’t be fooled by price.

It takes 7 liters of olives to produce a liter of oil, so olive oil isn’t cheap. Poor recent harvests in Greece, Spain and Italy, coupled with increased demand for olive oil worldwide, have caused prices to rise, according to a May 2014 report in the Wall Street Journal.

A high price tag, however, is no guarantee of top quality.

“You can have a terrific olive oil from a small producer at a reasonable price,” Platis says.

For a good-quality Californian extra-virgin olive oil with a harvest date within the last year, prices start at about $12 per liter.

But low prices can indicate poor quality.

“If you find a European olive oil for $6.99 a liter, chances are it’s not a high-quality product,” Darragh warns.

8. Buy the right oil for your needs.

It’s a myth that you shouldn’t use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking, Platis says.

High-quality, filtered extra-virgin olive oil or fino olive oil has a smoke point of about 410° F, making it a good choice for sautéing over medium heat.

But save your best oil for use as a condiment, to sprinkle on salad or to dip bread into.

“Unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil tends to be a more artisanal – and expensive – product,” says Lia Huber, founder of Nourish Evolution, a website that coaches people in making the transition from processed to real food.

“That cloudiness and particulate matter adds real flavor and character,” she says.

Unfiltered oil also tends to be higher in antioxidant polyphenols, Flynn says.

Huber drizzles unfiltered oil over soup or beans. Dr. Harlan uses it to “finish” a sauce after cooking.

Olio nuovo, a robust, green-colored “new oil” made with young, first-of-season olives tends to have a pungent, peppery, even bitter bite. Its taste also means it has more antioxidants, Flynn adds.

But oil produced later in the harvest season is more mellow-tasting, which makes it ideal for baking, Platis says.

Harvest seasons run from October-February in the Northern Hemisphere and April-August in the Southern Hemisphere.

9. Buy only what you’ll use.

A large tin of olive oil might seem like a bargain, but it’s a false economy if you don’t use it up in hurry.

Instead, “buy a small bottle, so you can go through it quickly” before it turns rancid, Platis says.

That’s especially true if you’re buying a high-end, unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil to use as a condiment.

10. Store it properly.

Once you get that beautiful olive oil home, handle it properly so it doesn’t spoil.

“Don’t put it by your stove,” Platis says. “It needs to be in your pantry, away from light and heat – and keep the container sealed to minimize oxidation.”

You can extend the shelf life by a few months by storing it in the refrigerator, Huber adds.

The cold causes the oil to solidify, but it will liquefy again when it returns to room temperature.

However large your container, use olive oil in moderation, Dr. Harlan cautions. A little goes a long way.

“Every teaspoon contains about 40 calories and 5 grams of fat,” he says. “So whatever you’re using, use it wisely.”

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Source: lifescript.com