4 ms·

It’s not really that simple any more. There’s a magazine in Germany called ÖkoTest and they do a lot of testing of all kind of products. We were shocked at the

by mns 2y ago

It’s not really that simple any more. There’s a magazine in Germany called ÖkoTest and they do a lot of testing of all kind of products. We were shocked at the results for olive oil (and these were all from Europe, Italy and Spain), most of them all had mineral oils from processing probably and only one or two from the 20+ brands tested were free of mineral oils and had decent or ok overall results. Even some of the BIO/organic ones were not so good.

steve1977 2y ago
As I understood the magazine article, the mineral oil could come from a couple of sources, including for example harvesting machinery. I wonder if seed-based oils (like rapeseed a.k.a. canola) would be better in this regard, as the seeds are maybe a bit more protected until a later stage of processing... just guessing here though. Olives seem to be a bit of an outlier because there it's also the fruit that is oily and used is used for making the oil. Do you know by chance if ÖkoTest also did tests with other types of oils? Edit: Just checked the recommended articles, they also tested rapeseed. TLDR; nope, not better https://www.oekotest.de/essen-trinken/Rapsoel-Test-Die-meisten-Oele-sind-mit-Mineraloel-verunreinigt_11527_1.html https://www.oekotest.de/essen-trinken/Rapsoel-Test-Die-meist...
- christkv 2y ago
  The tests I'm finding seem to be mostly white-label brands with who knows what kind of oil. I'm talking about single source olive oil. It's a bit more expensive but you generally get oil from small operations and co-ops that can be either eco or not. https://www.elcorteingles.es/club-del-gourmet/aceites-y-vinagres/aceites/2/ https://www.elcorteingles.es/club-del-gourmet/aceites-y-vina...
  - steve1977 2y ago
    The parent poster (not OP) mentioned was specifically about organic brands in the German markets. The brands there are pretty known around here.
steve1977 2y ago
PS: I cannot buy their test results because I'm in Switzerland, do you know by chance how well the Alnatura one did?
darkwater 2y ago
Italy's EVO Is already a joke currently. Most brands, even old, famous ones are re-selling oil from Spain or Greece (and sometimes even Morocco and rest of Northern Africa). In Spain the situation is a bit better, for now, because olives are still a bit cheaper (even if last year the thing changed drastically due to draught and very bad harvesting, and prices skyrocketed like 2.5x)

by mns 2y ago

steve1977 2y ago

As I understood the magazine article, the mineral oil could come from a couple of sources, including for example harvesting machinery. I wonder if seed-based oils (like rapeseed a.k.a. canola) would be better in this regard, as the seeds are maybe a bit more protected until a later stage of processing... just guessing here though. Olives seem to be a bit of an outlier because there it's also the fruit that is oily and used is used for making the oil. Do you know by chance if ÖkoTest also did tests with other types of oils? Edit: Just checked the recommended articles, they also tested rapeseed. TLDR; nope, not better https://www.oekotest.de/essen-trinken/Rapsoel-Test-Die-meisten-Oele-sind-mit-Mineraloel-verunreinigt_11527_1.html https://www.oekotest.de/essen-trinken/Rapsoel-Test-Die-meist...

christkv 2y ago
The tests I'm finding seem to be mostly white-label brands with who knows what kind of oil. I'm talking about single source olive oil. It's a bit more expensive but you generally get oil from small operations and co-ops that can be either eco or not. https://www.elcorteingles.es/club-del-gourmet/aceites-y-vinagres/aceites/2/ https://www.elcorteingles.es/club-del-gourmet/aceites-y-vina...
- steve1977 2y ago
  The parent poster (not OP) mentioned was specifically about organic brands in the German markets. The brands there are pretty known around here.

steve1977 2y ago

PS: I cannot buy their test results because I'm in Switzerland, do you know by chance how well the Alnatura one did?

darkwater 2y ago

Italy's EVO Is already a joke currently. Most brands, even old, famous ones are re-selling oil from Spain or Greece (and sometimes even Morocco and rest of Northern Africa). In Spain the situation is a bit better, for now, because olives are still a bit cheaper (even if last year the thing changed drastically due to draught and very bad harvesting, and prices skyrocketed like 2.5x)