The Revealed Truth About Olive Oil

Following are a few of the pitfalls you  must be aware of when purchasing olive oil:

• A high percentage of olive oil is adulterated by blending with other vegetable oils.

• It is a common practice to use “Made in Italy” on labeling even though foreign oils have been blended in.

• Flavoring low-grade canola oil, or soy oil with beta-carotene and coloring it with industrial chlorophyll, or doctoring it with hazelnut oil and deodorized lampante olive oil.

• For the past ten years, Spain has produced more oil than Italy, but much of it is shipped to Italy for packaging and is sold, legally, as Italian oil.

• Recently there have been mass-market price wars and a flood of low quality olive oil — much of it falsely labelled extra virgin.

• Australian olive oil may be on average the highest quality on earth.

• Fraud is widespread throughout the industry.

Article: Slippery Business by Tom Mueller, New Yorker, August 13, 2007

Links to: Quality Olive Oil Producers:

List of Quality Olive Oil Producers

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Producers (Italian)

Other Interesting Stories:

Longevity through Consuming Olive Oil