4 ms·

Italian mobs selling "virgin olive oil" likes that article. My main point is that I am not able to tell real virgin olive oil from scam one. From what I unders

by ozim 4y ago

Italian mobs selling "virgin olive oil" likes that article. My main point is that I am not able to tell real virgin olive oil from scam one. From what I understand most of "virgin olive oil" on supermarket shelves is scam.

seydor 4y ago
Actually it is Extra Virgin that is the standard (at least in EU - the US uses the name loosely)
UncleOxidant 4y ago
I tend to think that the California grown/produced olive oil is less likely to be adulterated vs OO from Spain and Italy.
- nemetroid 4y ago
  When buying in the US, I assume that you mean.
- simondw 4y ago
  Do you have evidence to support that?
  - UncleOxidant 4y ago
    Primarily because there are stricter requirements via FDA on the US food supply. If a US producer gets caught adulterating they're going to face legal issues that a foreign producer will not face. Not saying it's not possible that CA producers could be adulterating, but if they get caught there will be consequences that an importer won't face - the importer can just say they were trusting their suppliers overseas. Also found this (from 2010): "The research team found that 69 percent of the imported oils sampled, compared with just 10 percent of the California-produced oils sampled, failed to meet internationally accepted standards for extra virgin olive oil." https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/most-imported-olive-oils-don%E2%80%99t-match-%E2%80%98extra-virgin%E2%80%99-claims-study-finds https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/most-imported-olive-oils-don%E2...
  - swalling 4y ago
    Adulteration of olive oil typically happens in transit/shipping by wholesalers, not by producers. Spanish or Italian olive farms aren't diluting with corn oil or whatever during production on the farm/when pressing, it's by aggregators who are buying and selling oil in bulk by volume. So if you're buying olive made, processed, and bottled by a single farm whose origin is local you're structurally at less risk than a generic "Italian" oil or one that says the country of origin could one of 3-4 countries. Also California has a mandatory sampling and testing program https://www.oliveoilcommission.org/ https://www.oliveoilcommission.org/ If you want to go deep on the topic, this is a great read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10955085-extra-virginity https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10955085-extra-virginity
spywaregorilla 4y ago
Try finding bottles that explicitly list the acidity of the oil. The good stuff is really low. Extra virgin is considered .8% or less. I would shoot for something that explicitly lists 0.3% or better.

by ozim 4y ago

seydor 4y ago

Actually it is Extra Virgin that is the standard (at least in EU - the US uses the name loosely)

UncleOxidant 4y ago

I tend to think that the California grown/produced olive oil is less likely to be adulterated vs OO from Spain and Italy.

nemetroid 4y ago
When buying in the US, I assume that you mean.
simondw 4y ago
Do you have evidence to support that?
- UncleOxidant 4y ago
  Primarily because there are stricter requirements via FDA on the US food supply. If a US producer gets caught adulterating they're going to face legal issues that a foreign producer will not face. Not saying it's not possible that CA producers could be adulterating, but if they get caught there will be consequences that an importer won't face - the importer can just say they were trusting their suppliers overseas. Also found this (from 2010): "The research team found that 69 percent of the imported oils sampled, compared with just 10 percent of the California-produced oils sampled, failed to meet internationally accepted standards for extra virgin olive oil." https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/most-imported-olive-oils-don%E2%80%99t-match-%E2%80%98extra-virgin%E2%80%99-claims-study-finds https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/most-imported-olive-oils-don%E2...
- swalling 4y ago
  Adulteration of olive oil typically happens in transit/shipping by wholesalers, not by producers. Spanish or Italian olive farms aren't diluting with corn oil or whatever during production on the farm/when pressing, it's by aggregators who are buying and selling oil in bulk by volume. So if you're buying olive made, processed, and bottled by a single farm whose origin is local you're structurally at less risk than a generic "Italian" oil or one that says the country of origin could one of 3-4 countries. Also California has a mandatory sampling and testing program https://www.oliveoilcommission.org/ https://www.oliveoilcommission.org/ If you want to go deep on the topic, this is a great read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10955085-extra-virginity https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10955085-extra-virginity

spywaregorilla 4y ago

Try finding bottles that explicitly list the acidity of the oil. The good stuff is really low. Extra virgin is considered .8% or less. I would shoot for something that explicitly lists 0.3% or better.