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Supermarket Olive Oils Suck
Good extra-virgin olive oil goes straight to your head like champagne. Sweet, pungent, peppery, grassy, and lemony all at once, it makes almost anything delicious.
And then there’s the crap I buy at Trader Joe’s. Yeah, I knew the cheap stuff wasn’t as good as the oil available in staggeringly expensive five-liter tins at the specialty Italian store, but who has the time to truck all the way across town just for one thing?
I might be making the time, however, after reading Cook’s Illustrated’s July/August taste-testing of supermarket olive oils (story not available online, sorry). Testers tried 10 of the top-selling extra-virgin brands widely available in grocery stores, and were pretty much disgusted by all but three of them. The tasting notes are a scream: “I can’t imagine what is in here, but they have a nerve calling it EVOO,” says one feisty writer about Goya. Star was described as “spicy, but in a motor oil kind of way.” Other selections were “soapy,” “menthol—think Vicks VapoRub,” “unpleasant, dirty,” and even had “kitty litter smells” and the fragrance of “a set of sweaty hockey pads.”
Cook’s ended up recommending Columela, costing less at $35.90 per liter than some of the cruddier oils. Also deemed acceptable were Lucini Italia and Colavita. Interestingly, DaVinci, formerly Cook’s pick for best inexpensive oil, tested next-to-worst in this go-round.
So if I’m not buying DaVinci, what to buy? Chowhounds have some recommendations on good, cheap olive oil.
Now, next thing to worry about: Is the oil in those pricey tins really what it says it is?
Posted by | Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 12:44pm | 3 comments
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I have to agree with this post.
I grow olives, press them into oil, package the oil, and market it. I have yet to find an EVOO better than mine. It has 0.17% acidity, a peroxide value of 6, and 160ppm of total polyphenols / antioxidants. It is made only from the Koroneiki olive grown in the mountains on the island of Crete. The cost is $30 per liter or $75 for 3 liters delivered to your door. You do not have to pay more to get the best EVOO.
You can learn about my oil at kretareserve.com. There are oils of lesser quality than mine selling for over $100 per liter. It is not necessary to pay these prices for fancy bottles and labels. If you like the taste of the oil from the Koroneiki olive and want the finest quality and most healthful oil, please give mine a try.
It is frustrating to read posts like this when there are really good EVOOs out there for people to enjoy and receive many health benefits. The best part of growing olives and making EVOO is knowing that the people who buy it will greatly benefit from it.
Ciao
Tony
A 1996 study by the FDA found that 96% of the olive oils they tested, while being labeled 100% olive oil, had been diluted with other oils. A study in Italy found that only 40% of the olive oil brands labeled "extra virgin" actually met those standards. Italy produces 400,000 tons of olive oil for domestic consumption, but 750,000 are sold. The difference is made up with highly refined nut and seed oils.
If you want to find healthy and high-quality olive oil, you should focus on some very important things before buying it:
What should I read on the label?
One of the most significant information is the date of harvest together with the expiration date. Did you know that olive oil loses fruitiness and flavor as it ages and after maximum two years
from the harvest it will be oxidized and rancid?
The importance of packaging.
A dark bottle, a bottle wrapped in foil, a bottle packaged in cardboard or wooden box is a MUST to preserve the quality of the oil because it must be kept away from direct light.
Is the color of the olive oil important?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! Official tasters always use dark glasses so that their sense is not influenced by the color. Many times oils are chemically manipulated to be greener because customers believe that greener oil is better. This is absolutely wrong!
Find more at http://www.OlioAndOlive.com
Take a glance this post:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/583778