You have three options for quality when buying olive oil. but you probably aren’t aware of them.
Let’s fix that with a simple analysis:
First Option: Virgin Olive Oil
⬅️ Extra Virgin (EVOO.) Derived from first pressing of fresh olives with acidity less than 0.8
⬅️ Virgin olive oil, not extra virgin. Derived from first pressing but acidity is higher than 0.8 Be careful if/when you see “Virgin Olive Oil” on the label. It’s not the highest quality.
⬅️Third and much lower class of virgin olive oil contains more than 2% acidity. It’s not fit for human consumption.
Second option: Refined or “Light Olive Oil
⬅️A blend of some virgin olive oil but mixed with much lower quality of oils.
⬅️”Refining” means it could be bleached to give it a clear color, deodorized to eliminate smell and further processed to make it tasteless.
⬅️Stay clear if you want the health benefits of EVOO.
Third Option: Crude Olive Pomace Oil
⬅️Still sold in stores, from the last pressing of skins and pits of olives
When buying olive oil you should look for these three options for quality
This should help when looking for the quality your health deserves. In addition to understanding the categories of quality it’s important to know how to read the label and how your EVOO is bottled.
If you don’t have the checklist for how to avoid making mistakes here’s a link where you can download it here.
If you would like to learn more about the highest quality olive oil anywhere, I have only recently recommended one company in 10 years of researching high quality olive oil with highest health benefits possible. Here’s a link for the information.
Acidity information provided by Gianfranco Cosmano, the European Community and IOC.
