Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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http://www.cracked.com/article_19896_the-6-creepiest-lies-food-industry-feeding-you_p2.html

i was reading this today "Today, the stuff that is pawned off to us as quality olive oil is often just a tiny amount of the real thing, mixed with up to 80 percent of ordinary, less than healthy, cheap as muck sunflower oil. That is, if you're getting any olive oil at all. In fact, we're so used to shitty olive oil that apparently food connoisseurs reject the real stuff because it tastes fake to them."

I eat a lot of olive oil and if its fake that means id be ingesting all this omega 6 oils every day. I live in New Zealand, so i wonder if its legal to sell fake olive oil here.

flag	asked Jun 19 at 1:53 Samuel 171●1●5

julianne · Answer 1 · 2012-06-19 02:36:41Z UTC

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Fair Go recently tested olive oils avaiable in New Zealand - there is a problem with many imported oils from Europe. http://paleozonenutrition.com/2012/05/19/extra-virgin-olive-oil-or-is-it-european-supermarket-oils-are-rancid-and-fail-the-evoo-test/

Similar tests have been done in California and Australia

Report: Most Imported Extra Virgin Olive Oils Aren’t Extra Virgin http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/report-most-imported-extra-virgin-olive-oils-arent/4316

Choice the people’s watchdog: Extra virgin olive oil 2010 review; Is what you buy the real deal? http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/food-and-drink/groceries/extra-virgin-olive-oil-2010-review.aspx

answered Jun 19 at 2:36

julianne
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	If its just low quality oxidised olive oil, is it as bad as regular vegetable oil? because ive trained my mom to use only olive oil and butter for my food, not vegetable oil (im not sure where to buy coconut oil) is it that urgent not to eat it? – Samuel Jun 19 at 2:43
	Coconut oil is easy to get in NZ, or so ive found. Its solid at room temp, not liquid.Comes in a jar. Have no idea on the olive oil thing, but if its oxidised, that is defo bad for you...(cancer). Olive oil is lower in omega 6's (inflammatory) than regular oil, which is different issue from oxidation, but id still recommend coconut oil or butter for cooking unless I was making the odd salad with olive oil or vinegar, because olive oil still has some omega 6s... – Jamie Jun 19 at 3:40
	And its got a low smoke point (oxidises from heat quicker and burns) – Jamie Jun 19 at 4:56
	It is still cold pressed rather than chemical extraction and still retains some anti-oxidants. I'd use it rather than cheap oils high in omega 6. Macadamia oil is good for cooking as well, higher heat point, less omega 6 – julianne Jun 20 at 23:39

Eugenia · Answer 2 · 2012-06-19 02:07:18Z UTC

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I'm Greek, and my mom buys olive oil directly from the place where they make olive oil in her village. Her olive oil is deep in color, and somewhat rich and thick. The ones I can find in the US are less so (even the extra virgin, cold pressed ones). So I don't know what's going on. It might just be a different kind of olive fruits, or pressing technique. Or it could be what Cracked.com claims about fake olive oil... At least for some brands.

answered Jun 19 at 2:07

Eugenia
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	Most likely, there is at least some real olive oil in the oil, but many have been adulterated. Many have also been adulterated before the final producer bottles it, so they may not even know if it is real. Buying from a reputable source is the only way to know if it is real. – AmandaLP Jun 19 at 3:07
	That probably just means that it's unfiltered. It can be tastier and have more intense flavors. The downside is that it might decrease the shelf life. – Sound Jun 19 at 18:48

Sound · Answer 3 · 2012-06-19 02:03:29Z UTC

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Real olive oil exists. You should read Great Olive Oils of the World and the Buyer's Guide by the author of the book "Extra Virginity".

answered Jun 19 at 2:03

Sound
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eric · Answer 4 · 2012-06-19 06:10:48Z UTC

Olive Oil is not fake. It is a real oil. The question has been poorly formed :).

I think one should always take care where one buys it, like anything else. I live in Spain and I still will take care. I will usually buy it from ecological cooperatives, with their own land, trees and olive press. When I have been in the USA, the olive oil sold in supermarkets looks and smells fairly weak. I once read somewhere that all imported olive oil was, by law, pasteurized. Not sure if this is true.

I am pretty sure that there are decent places to buy olive oil from California producers. Perhaps on-line

Kelly · Answer 5 · 2012-06-19 12:01:02Z UTC

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We use to get fresh pressed olive oil straight from the "farm" when we lived in Spain, so I now smell all the EVOO I get, it is not the same and you can find variations of the EVOO, I guess you really do have to look for it, but its weak by comparison.

answered Jun 19 at 12:01

Kelly
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	FWIW, smell is not a valid test for pure olive oil, nor is viscosity or any of the other sensory clues we are able to do ourselves. Vegetable or nut oils with olive oil flavanoids smell just like any variety of real olive oil may smell like. – greymouser Jun 19 at 14:01
	valid/invalid, don't really care much, if you've smelled freshly pressed evoo you'd know it has a stronger smell ....thats all – Kelly Jun 19 at 14:25

Matt · Answer 6 · 2012-06-19 12:52:37Z UTC

Folks say to put olive oil in the fridge to see if it semi-solidifies. If it does, it's supposedly the real deal. All my olive oil samples have solidified, from store-brand all the way up to premium product. Maybe I've been lucky, or maybe the test is pointless.

EDIT: Amanda points out in the comments that it's not a good test for determining the quality of olive oil. I think that's probably true, it's the fat content that largely determines the freezing point.

Consider though if highly diluted with sunflower oil. Olive oil is mostly oleic acid (mp 13-14C in free acid form). Sunflower oil is mostly linoleic acid (mp -5C in free acid form). Triglycerides melt at lower temperatures than their component fatty acids. It seems likely that sunflower seed oil would not solidify at fridge temperatures, while olive oil may. (I haven't done the test myself, no sunflower oil on hand and not going to buy it out of curiosity.) Commercial salad dressings don't freeze at fridge temperatures, and they're vegetable oils (largely PUFAs).

If olive oil counterfeiters were smart, they'd use high oleic acid sunflower oil. Much more similar to olive oil in fatty acid composition, it might not produce a significant change in melting point profile. Not sure that's any cheaper than olive oil itself.

Then again, high oleic sunflower oil is probably nearly as healthy as olive oil.

xtonedog · Answer 7 · 2012-06-19 04:26:16Z UTC

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Even though I distrust most of what corporations and the government here in the U.S. Try to feed us. Am I being naive to think that if it had other oils, it would list it on the ingredients just like the olive oil-canola oil blends?

answered Jun 19 at 4:26

xtonedog
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Yes. Technically its illegal but only if they get caught. – Denis Jun 19 at 12:44

Paleomofo · Answer 8 · 2012-06-19 06:21:00Z UTC

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If you live in the U.S., Louana Coconut Oil is cheaper than the cheapest olive oil. Not the best coconut oil but gets the job done when it comes to cooking.

answered Jun 19 at 6:21

Paleomofo
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Is olive oil fake?

8 Answers