You probably didn’t know, but the olive oil in your kitchen it very likely fake, and since many people cannot make a difference between high-quality one and a fake one, it is easy to make a mistake.
Fake olive oil is hard to recognize, so it is much easier to be defrauded. Producers and dealers are trying to get more profit and because of that, they are diluting the real olive oil with sunflower oil with low-quality olive oil. They are also making low-quality olive oil, selling it as the real one. So, if you want to avoid fake one, here is what you need to know:
Don’t Trust Each Label
Words like “pure,” “natural,” “virgin olive oil,” “premium,” “light,” “made in Italy,” and just “olive oil” can be very deceiving. You will probably get a low-quality one. Also ” the first cold pressed,” sounds like the real thing, but it doesn’t mean so much because olive oil these days is often spun out of olives with centrifuges. Sometimes even the term “extra-virgin olive oil” doesn’t mean so much, because producers are putting it on their fake olive oils.
Stamp of Approval
If you are in the USA, you need to look for denoting approval by the California Olive Oil Council: “COOC Certified Extra Virgin.” This will keep you from fake ones and you will know you are buying the good stuff. Also, look for the label “USDA Quality Monitored.”
Look The Country of Origin
“If you have to purchase blindly with no other clue besides where it was made, choose Chile or Australia,” Larry Olmsted, author of the new book Real Food, Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do About It.
Buy in Season and in the Dark
When buying olive oil, look the dates listed on them, and buy the oil that was bottle most recently. If you are looking an oil from the Northern Hemisphere, the end of the year is the worst time to buy (they will be leftovers from last season). Also, avoid oils from Australia, South Africa, and Chile during the summer and spring. Since the olive oil’s quality decreases in the light, bottle that are clear and that have been sitting by the window are bad. Buy dark glass bottles or even cans instead.
