One of the best known olive oil facts is that it’s healthy and rich in antioxidants, that can render a respectable old age. But there’s plenty more to this amazing oil…

“I have only one wrinkle. And I’m sitting on it.” – Jeanne Calment-

Jeanne Calment reached the incredible age of 122 years. This is the longest lifespan on record worldwide. The amazingly vital and youthful looking woman from the south of France attributed her old age to the daily use of Olive Oil. On the one hand as a part of her diet and on the other as a cosmetic. She rubbed her skin with olive oil every day. And she had surprisingly little wrinkles.

This first series of posts on my natural health blog is dedicated to what I think is the most versatile health and beauty product of all time. Olive Oil.

It is also one of the oldest foods still alive and kickin’ in modern society.

This first post is about olive oil facts. The history, production methods and quality grades.

We all know olive oil is healthy, but during my research, I stumbled across some amazing facts and benefits I didn’t know where there and I felt I must share this with you.

However, before I start bragging about what are the health benefits of olive oil,  I feel it’s important to have a basic understanding of the subject.

 Olive Oil Facts: History

Olive oil derives from ‘Olea oleaster ‘ the wild olive and ancestor of the now widely cultivated European olive. The cultivation of olives dates back as far as 4000 B.C. In what now is the Middle East.

Remnants of olive oil press mills have been found and dated around 800 B.C. But we can safely assume that olive oil production goes back much further than that.

The Olive has a long history and -believe it or not- has played a major role in ancient civilization.

The Greek goddess Athena was the goddess of olives, and the olive branch as a symbol of peace, victory and fertility still has an important meaning today.

Olive oil was just as important as crude oil is today. Roman society and ancient Greek society used it not only for food, but also in medicine and as burning fuel. When ancient Rome was cut off from olive oil supply the city came to a virtual stand still. Public baths and schools would be closed and Roman soldiers would refuse to do their duty if there wasn’t any olive oil.

Thanks to those Roman legions the olive and its oil got spread all over conquered parts of Europe and where there wasn’t any olive oil left, the barbarian hordes couldn’t be far off. The presence of olive oil was a clear sign of civilisation.

How Is Olive Oil Made?

A wide-spread misconception is that olive oil comes from the olive core. This is not true. The fruit carries the greatest oil share, including the vitamins and the nutrients.

There are two methods of production, mechanical ( cold pressing) and chemical ( using heat and chemicals like Hexane to extract oil).

Mechanical extraction is a two-phase process. First, the olives get crushed and mixed to become a paste. The second step is to heat the paste to max. 27° Celsius and then centrifuge it, so that the oil is separated from the water and can be filtered out after. This is the ‘First Pressing’ and the oil won in this process is called virgin olive oil.

Using more heat and in some cases chemicals like hexane (wiki link) the left over paste is heated up to extract the left over oil. This is called chemical extraction.

The oil won in this process may not be called virgin and is of a lesser quality. Often this oil needs to be refined (more chemicals) to be fit for consumption.

Olive Oil Quality Grades

The International Olive Oil Council (I.O.O.C.) sets the standard for olive oil quality. Basically, there are five quality grades.

 Extra Virgin: Olive oil from the first pressing that has an acidity level lower or equal to 0.8% Best quality.

 Virgin: Olive oil won from the first mechanical pressing. The acidity is lower than 2% Still very good quality. These acids are so-called ‘fatty acids’ and are extremely healthy, but more on that in the next post.

Refined Olive Oil: Chemically treated olive oil. Can be from first pressing, but also from second pressing. Mostly a mixture of both. Generally lower grade oil with a neutral taste. Unrefined I’ve been told that it tastes horrible, so don’t pass it off as bad. Refined oil still has the same nutrients as virgin oil, but in a lower grade. Still, it’s fit for consumption.

Pomace Oil: Chemically extracted oil from the paste remnants. Still consumable, but health benefits are minimal. Pomace oil is mostly used by restaurants for deep-frying. Don’t put it on your salad.

Lampante: Pomace oil that is not fit for consumption. Mostly used as a burning fuel for oil lamps and the like. Keep away from your salad!(and your children).

Tasting Olive Oil

According to the council and the connoisseurs, there are 16(!) taste flaws for olive oil. To name a few: If the oil tastes like cucumber, musty, fusty and rancid it’s bad news. But since we are not that savvy I will give you a tasting tip: Good, virgin olive oil should taste of olives. Slightly bitter, but not necessarily. Slightly spicy and yet fruity. Ah well, just watch the video and do try this at home folks!

Olive Oil Scams And Fraud

Since the olive oil market is enormous you can imagine that it’s a place for frauds, scammers and charlatans as well. Sadly.

Two Olive oil scams:

Deodorizing non olive oils: This is the über-scam. Low grade oils are refined and mixed with taste enhancing chemicals and colorants to be sold as extra virgin oil. These oils are a danger to our health. Author Tom Mueller has written a great book on corruption and fly-by-night practices on the international olive oil market.

Watch this video:

Mixing Virgin Oil with Pomace oil: Not so bad if they would be honest about it. But many (not even the big brands) are. They sell it as virgin oil.

Why is this possible? Although there are fixed quality grades for olive oil, sadly there aren’t any strong regulations for it. Since the goods go through many channels before they reach the consumer it’s hard to track where it all went wrong. It’s because in international trade the companies are mostly only bound by some national regulations that leave a lot of space for fraud.

How To Choose The Right Olive Oil

Big brand names are no quality guarantee per se. For instance the Bertolli Brand has changed owners several times in the last twenty years, and the Bertolli Family were never an Olive oil-producing family. They were bankers… This does not mean that Bertolli oil is a scam, but it’s to show you how  untransparent the olive oil market actually is.

Five tips for making the right decision in your supermarket

• See if you may taste the product. Most people will not have time for this, but if you have, it’s worth asking
• Do not rely on a brand or label that say extra virgin alone. Look for other quality marks as ‘cold pressing’ or ‘mechanical pressing’.
• Other logos and quality marks like: C.O.O.C. (California Olive Oil Corporation), D.O.P. (Italian quality grade), A.O.C. (French), or D.O. (Spanish)
• Do not judge the oil by its color. Some oils may look more yellowish, some may look greener and still have great quality. But for most oils you can’t tell, since they are in dark bottles. And this is a good sign, as dark glass keeps the oils quality a bit longer.
• Don’t be put off by flakes in the oil. This should be a sign of quality. If olive oil was stored in cold surroundings, flakes build and disappear again when the oil gets warmer.

Store you olive oil in a dark and cool place. Use within 2 months. If stored longer than that, the oil looses its nutritional value and might taste bad.

In the next post we’ll discuss the best uses and the health benefits of olive oil. How to use it for your natural beauty, weight loss and other secrets.

One of the best known olive oil facts is that it’s healthy and rich in antioxidants, that can render a respectable old age. But there’s plenty more to this amazing oil.

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