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Last fall my sister told me that she had read an article in the New Yorker exposing the fact that most olive oils on the market are fake. I was shocked and horrified. I had been cooking with olive oil for years and using it to make my own salad dressing. I was trying to avoid trans fats.
When I first started eating a WAPF diet 6 months ago, one of the first things I did was buy real (WAPF approved) olive oil. One of the brands they recommend is Bariani. A little more expensive, but worth it considering it’s real! I also buy Adam’s Ranch at Rawesome, my local buying club.
And Sally Fallon says that, for making salad dressing, even if you use the finest, most expensive ingredients, it still comes out the same cost-wise as if you are buying ready-made salad dressings.
Yesterday I was listening to a lecture by Sally Fallon (an mp3 from the WAPF 2007 conference). She said that you can tell if your olive oil is real by putting it in the fridge. If it turns hard, it’s real. If not, it’s fake.
Last night I put 3 bottles of olive oil in the fridge. One was my bottle of Adam’s Ranch unrefined olive oil. I also put in a bottle of Santini from Trader Joe’s and a bottle of Fillippo Berio I bought at Albertson’s. Both of these are the olive oils I used to buy before I got into WAPF.
Guess what? The Adam’s Ranch is the real thing. And the other two — FAKE!
See how the Adam’s Ranch is hard and cream colored? You can turn it on its side and it is absolutely solid. The other two oils are totally liquid.
This really pisses me off! I cooked with that stuff for years, thinking I was using a healthy oil. I was trying to avoid trans fats — and here I was ingesting them unknowingly.
And the people at Filippo Berio have the nerve to put a page on their website about “Tradition”. It says:
When you buy Filippo Berio olive oils, you’re buying olive oil steeped in expert tradition — oils with the same flavor as those Filippo Berio produced over 150 years ago.
Today, these award-winning oils are made using the latest technology, but the traditional flavors remain — thanks to painstaking attention to detail and a deep commitment to excellence. Filippo Berio olive oils have been produced by our family-owned and operated business since the mid-1800s, with hands-on family direction and expertise to ensure unsurpassed quality and unequalled taste in every bottle.
Notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that this is 100% olive oil. It just says that the “flavors” are the same.
Which means they are adulterating the olive oil with cheap oils (vegetable and soy, most likely) and adding olive oil flavor.
Try it with your olive oil and post the results on your blog — comment if you do it. I want to compile a list of real and fake olive oils.
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20/03/2008 at 8:24 am Permalink
Okay, I’ll try it. I have a bottle of olive oil that says, “Below 45 degrees product may become cloudy” and “Do not refrigerate.” It is Carapelli brand and claims to be high quality, so we shall see.
20/03/2008 at 8:26 am Permalink
Great idea!
A while back I started keeping my oil in the fridge, so I’ve got two for you. (I don’t have a blog, so I’ll just post my answer here.)
Zoe First Pressed Olive Oil in a can
Etruria Limoni di Sorrento (a lemon oil and olive oil blend)
20/03/2008 at 9:40 am Permalink
OK great thank you Stacy!
Fighting Windmills — hmm… I’ve seen those Carapelli commercials on the Food Network. They market themselves as “real Italian” food.
Cloudy is one thing… It should become totally solid when cold. Like shortening or coconut oil!
20/03/2008 at 1:01 pm Permalink
Well I know for sure my olive oil is real
It is from my aunt’s olive garden , hand pressed and de-li-ciosoooo… However if I run out I am going to the arabic market and buy either Turkish or Lebanese Olive oil, they are pretty real too…
By the way we finally are moving and I am so excited because I willl have ahuge back yard for organic gardening, open air clothes lines for yards, organic orange and loquat tree and a fountain to cool in the hot South Pasadena days and a tire swing for Adam right next to the sandbox in the yard..Kate and you are welcome to join us..Oh and i am planing to plant a grape vine around the fountain so it will provide some shade too – of course we will have fresh grapes and grape leaves for dolma…. Oh I am soooooo happy….Got to go pack now….
20/03/2008 at 5:34 pm Permalink
That’s good to know, though I don’t normally use olive oil. I prefer coconut oil. I think you’re right that some brands add cheap vegetable polyunsaturated oils – that would keep them from turning solid in the fridge.
After discussions on NN about the oil that separates on the top of organic peanut butter, I did a similar test. When I recently opened a large jar of Maranatha peanut butter, I poured the oil on the top into another jar and put it in the fridge. It did not solidify, although the color became cloudy. I suspect that the oil that rises to the top of the peanut butter jar does have a larger percentage of PUFA than what’s left in the jar. Otherwise it would solidify. So, it probably is worthwhile to pour it off to lower your PUFA intake when eating the peanut butter. Just add lots of real butter when served
20/03/2008 at 6:17 pm Permalink
Hmm that is interesting Bryan
I looked on their website and it says it’s just peanuts and sea salt.
How could this be? Are they adding oil and not putting it on the label? Or does this come from the peanut oil?
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=172832&prrfnbr=198833
So you really eat it with butter?
Also what’s the deal w/ peanut butter? Are we supposed to make our own? I mean because they probably aren’t soaked and made into “crispy” nuts per NT.
Of course, I prefer liverwurst.
20/03/2008 at 7:37 pm Permalink
My Bragg’s is in the fridge now…I’ll let you know tomorrow.
21/03/2008 at 7:25 am Permalink
Tried it out with Star Extra Virgin over night and it flunked. No cloudiness or any solidification. Darn!
~Anna
21/03/2008 at 7:47 am Permalink
The Carapelli had tiny little solid bits floating in the rest of the oil. It looks like the little circles of fat that form when I put leftover soup in the refrigerator. So I’m guessing that it is about 1% real olive oil and the other 99% is another kind of oil. The label says, “Taking the best of the oils from the finest olive growing regions in the Mediterranean, we blend them until our distinctive aroma and flavour is achieved.” Hahahahaha, what a twisting of words! It is “the best of the oils” but not necessarily olive oil. There are other blends from the same brand though, to be fair, mine is not labeled Premium Extra Virgin. I had not thought to pay attention before.
21/03/2008 at 8:31 am Permalink
Thanks, Anna. I will add Star to my spreadsheet. I used to buy that brand, too, dangit!
Fighting Windmills, that is hilarious! At least they are being somewhat honest by saying it is a blending of oils — that says it right there. But it still really galls me that they have the nerve to call it olive oil.
21/03/2008 at 8:37 am Permalink
Bragg Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil First Cold Pressed, purchased from my food co-op, http://www.azurestandard.com is liquid with not a bit of cloudiness. The label says the only ingredient is organic extra virgin olive oil.
My husband asked for more research and documentation before he believes the test. He is not one to hear something from one person, no matter how renowned in their field, and accept it as fact. So I’ll be researching a little more on his request.
21/03/2008 at 8:59 am Permalink
Momma, this is disturbing. I thought the Bragg’s was gonna come out okay. I thought a friend of mine said she was using Bragg’s olive oil and that it did stay solid in the fridge… but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she was using Adam’s Ranch. I’ll email her and ask.
Here is another article on the olive oil scam:
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/oliveoil/index.html
It is possible that Bragg’s gets their oil from someone else and they then bottle it. And it’s the people producing the oil — the distibutors not the bottlers, that are fleecing the public.
Even the wineries use a collection of grapes from lots of different growers.
So what I’m saying is it may happen before Bragg’s even gets it. What we need to know is, where does Bragg’s get their olives or their olive oil? Do they do the pressing? If not, where do they get their oil?
You could call them and find out.
21/03/2008 at 9:01 am Permalink
Ok, I did the test last night with Trader Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil (cold pressed and packed in Italy). It flunked!! Not cloudy and totally liquid. This fleecing of olive oil really pisses me off!
I do have the Bariani brand, it is delicious and will be the only brand I buy!
21/03/2008 at 9:12 am Permalink
I’ve been on the WAP site since writing my comment, and haven’t found anything on the test. Have you found it on the site, or just on the mp3? I saw that article on the fake olive oils, and chuckled, because it’s common sense. I have always KNOWN that cheap oils are inferior for whatever reasons. I didn’t investigate because I trusted that Bragg was an honest oil. I can get *REAL* olive oil from the farmer’s market and I might start doing that. I think I’ll call the olive oil lady and ask her about all of this.
21/03/2008 at 9:25 am Permalink
I just talked to the rep. at Bragg (1-800-446-1990) and explained the test, and asked if she thought it was a valid way to test the quality of the oil. She said she had never heard of the test, but said that there is a testing company that is independent, and randomly buys oil off the store shelves and tests it. She said they recently received a letter congratulation them on passing their tests. She is mailing me a copy of the letter (my fax is out of ink, or I’d have had it faxed). She assured me that they do not cut their olive oil with anything.
She said, too, that there is natural wax in olive oils. Bragg has a very low natural wax count (they remove it) and that could account for the lack of hardening in the fridge.
I guess I will withhold my judgment on Bragg for a little while, till I hear from a few more sources.
Thanks for the spur to research!
21/03/2008 at 9:30 am Permalink
Hmm — what do they test it for, Momma?
Did you ask where they get the olive oil or the olives?
21/03/2008 at 9:35 am Permalink
Momma,
I didn’t find it on the WAPF site — I heard it on the mp3 of Sally Fallon’s speech at the 2007 WAPF conference. Sally Fallon said that this was the way to test your olive oil.
You are right — more research needs to be done on this.
Maybe I will send an email to Ask Sally Fallon.
And Jungleen, it pisses me off too! Especially because people spend a lot on fancy olive oil thinking it is better for them — when they might as well buy cheap soybean oil since that is what they are getting.
21/03/2008 at 9:40 am Permalink
I called again, and asked your questions. She said the olives are from Greece, but she didn’t know the region.
The independent testing facility is the North American Olive Oil Assosiation and the number is 732-922-3880. The letter is dated July 5, 2007. I’m calling them now. I’ll update after I speak with them!
21/03/2008 at 9:42 am Permalink
oops, 732-922-3008
21/03/2008 at 9:49 am Permalink
I had to leave a message. No option to speak to a live rep.
Here’s a link to their quality testing program:
http://naooa.mytradeassociation.org/sealprogram/announcement.shtml
I have to be done for today…I have a ton of things to do. I’ll update you after I have spoken with them, or received the paperwork from Bragg.
Have a great day!
21/03/2008 at 9:53 am Permalink
OK Momma, check this out:
http://www.oliveoilsource.com/olive_chemistry_freezing.htm
They are saying that many companies “winterize” their olive oil by stripping the waxes out.
However I am not sure about this source — not sure who they are…
Here’s another story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12571726
This quote is shocking:
“of 73 olive oils … in the U.S. Only 4 per cent were pure olive oil. The rest were adulterated” – New York Times
http://www.nilevalleyherbs.com/nileinfo/infomine1/Olive_Oil_%96_Real_or_.html
I’d call that lady back and ask where they get their olives or their oil and where the oil comes from.
21/03/2008 at 10:47 am Permalink
The other brand I really like is Lucini and its pretty expensive. I don’t currently have a bottle of it, but I think my mom does. I’ll have her do the test and get back to you!
I’m also going to send that article in the New Yorker to all my friends!
21/03/2008 at 12:47 pm Permalink
Carapelli – totally hardened in my fridge. Why that other commenter’s didn’t, I don’t know, but that throws off this ‘test’ a little, no?
21/03/2008 at 1:57 pm Permalink
K, is your Carapelli the premium extra virgin? I think the other commenter said hers wasn’t. Maybe that is the difference?
21/03/2008 at 6:14 pm Permalink
This is an interesting test. Nice string started too Cheeseslave! I have a couple brands to try out that I get bulk in Missoula Montana, my feelings say they are good oil…I wonder how they will react to the test. I’ll get their producers and post back afterwards.
21/03/2008 at 6:41 pm Permalink
Momma, if it’s Greek olive oil, there’s a good chance it’s fake.
“Between August and November of 1991, the Mazal II and another tanker, the Katerina T., delivered nearly ten thousand tons of Turkish hazelnut oil and Argentinean sunflower-seed oil to Riolio, all identified as Greek olive oil.
Riolio’s owner, Domenico Ribatti, grew rich from the bogus oil, assembling substantial real-estate holdings, including a former department store in Bari. He bribed two officials, one with cash, the other with cartons of olive oil, and made trips to Rome, where he stayed at the Grand Hotel, and met with other unscrupulous olive-oil producers from Italy and abroad.
The investigators also discovered where Ribatti’s adulterated oil had gone: to some of the largest producers of Italian olive oil, among them Nestlé, Unilever, Bertolli, and Oleifici Fasanesi, who sold it to consumers as olive oil, and collected about twelve million dollars in E.U. subsidies intended to support the olive-oil industry.
In 1997 and 1998, olive oil was the most adulterated agricultural product in the European Union…
Most olive-oil frauds are easy to detect using chemical tests. In February, 2005, the N.A.S. Carabinieri broke up a criminal ring operating in several regions of Italy, and confiscated a hundred thousand litres of fake olive oil, with a street value of six million euros (about eight million dollars). The ring, which allegedly sold its products in northern Italy and in Germany, is accused of coloring low-grade soy oil and canola oil with industrial chlorophyll, flavoring it with beta-carotene, and packaging it as extra-virgin olive oil in tins and bottles emblazoned with pictures of Italian flags or Mt. Vesuvius, and with folksy names of imaginary producers—the Farmhouse, the Ancient Millstones.
More sophisticated scams, like Domenico Ribatti’s, typically take place at high-tech refineries, where the oil is doctored with substances like hazelnut oil and deodorized lampante olive oil, which are extremely difficult to detect by chemical analysis. ”
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller
Bottom line — I think you need to know where the grapes come from — like which farm.
22/03/2008 at 1:41 pm Permalink
I went to the farmer’s Market and spoke with the local olive oil lady. She agreed that very, very few oils on the market are pure olive oil. It was perhaps 60 degrees outside this morning (our low was 44 last night, high 78) and a few bottles on the table had a small amount of solid oil at the bottom. She assured me that would go away as the day warmed. We spoke of your test, and she said that, yes, pure uncut olive oil will turn solid in cool temps. I bought some of her oil, and will not buy Bragg again. Hers is SO much better! I can get a gallon for $35. Next time you’re coming north, let me know…maybe you can get some. I’m only three or four hours N of you!
22/03/2008 at 3:53 pm Permalink
Wow – yet another of those things you never think about but it’s pretty obvious when you do.
The price disparity for different brands of extra virgin olive oil is pretty large.
I’ve got my Sam’s olive oil in the fridge right now – update in the morning. Thanks, Ann!
22/03/2008 at 5:53 pm Permalink
OK great, Michelle — can’t wait to see what you find out.
Seth said, “This is one of your crazy things that actually makes sense!”
22/03/2008 at 5:54 pm Permalink
Momma, that is awesome! $35 for a gallon seems like a GREAT price!
One of these I want to take a trip up to visit the Organic Pastures Dairy, so maybe I will take you up on that and stop on the way. I also really need to go visit friends in San Francisco — I think a road trip is in our future!
22/03/2008 at 5:58 pm Permalink
Actually, Momma, that is a great price… Bariani goes for about $24/liter. I think I got my liter of Adam’s Ranch for maybe $20 or $22 (could have been less… I don’t remembrer).
So you are getting yours for about $9.21. Great deal!
And doesn’t it feel good to know you are supporting a local farmer.
Woo hoo! Good job!
22/03/2008 at 5:59 pm Permalink
$9.21 per liter I meant
23/03/2008 at 11:20 am Permalink
My organic extra virgin olive oil Napa Valley brand from Azure Standard hardened completely in the fridge last night!!
I can get it for $38.50 for 1 gallon:
http://www.azurestandard.com/product.php?id=OL084
I’ll be blogging about it soon! Thanks Ann Marie for the insight!
23/03/2008 at 11:24 am Permalink
Oh bTW, I keep my bottle in a dark place because the bottle is not opaque. Do you think it would be okay to store most of it in the fridge and have a smaller bottle sitting out, to prevent rancid oil?
23/03/2008 at 11:45 am Permalink
Servingyhvh,
That is great! And a great price.
I’m going to start using Azure Standard for some things… that way I can pretty much stop going to Whole Foods. I just have to make my list of what I need…
Re: storing olive oil…
“The ideal temperature for storing olive oil is 57°F or 14 degrees C, although a normal room temperature of 70ºF works very well if the olive oil is stored in a dark area where the temperature remains fairly constant. A kitchen cabinet located away from the stove and away from direct sunlight will work quite well. If you have a wine cellar, store your olive oils there and keep a small amount in your kitchen. Do not put olive oil in a container without a tight cap.
Refrigeration does not harm most grades of olive oil, but it is not recommended for expensive extra virgin varieties because condensation may develop in the bottle, affecting the flavor. When chilled, or in cold weather, the oil may turn cloudy and even solidify. Such oil will clear again as it warms, so cloudiness should not be taken as an indication that the oil is part its prime. Be sure bottles are tightly sealed. Refrigeration will extend the life of olive oil without harming the oil. Doing so will cause it to congeal and turn cloudy, but should not affect flavor. If refrigerated, olive oil will return to its original, liquid state when warmed to room temperature again. ”
http://whatscookingamerica.net/OliveOil.htm
24/03/2008 at 7:37 pm Permalink
Thanks for the info on storage! I have some strange news…so I put my larger bulk bottle of the same dang stuff that hardened the day before in my fridge last night and its almost 10pm…and no hardening, looks like runny olive oil….weird….
I’m going to be doing some more research on it. But just wanted to let others know that they may not want to get the Napa Valley brand that I stated above, until I figure this out.
24/03/2008 at 8:27 pm Permalink
Hmm… well maybe it’s because it’s such a big bottle. I know if I put a tiny bottle in with just a smidge of olive oil in it, it solidifies super fast.
Nonetheless, do report back!
Hugs,
Ann Marie
25/03/2008 at 9:31 am Permalink
Ok, results for Lucini Extra Virgin Olive Oil…….its half and half! My mom said the bottom of the bottle solidified, but the top half was still liquid. She had it in the fridge for a couple of days. So it must be part real and part fake. Interesting, huh?
25/03/2008 at 1:40 pm Permalink
update on Lucini…..my mom said it solidified now! Wonder why it took so long?
25/03/2008 at 1:46 pm Permalink
How long did it take? Over 48 hours?
That seems odd.
It says on their website that their olives come from farms in “the rolling hills of central Italy”. They don’t even say *where* in central Italy. Italians are very focused on differences between regions.
Sounds suspect.
I’m coming to the belief that unless you know the people growing the olives, and they talk about the actual farm where they are grown, it’s probably adulterated.
When I was in Italy staying at a B&B (where we took cooking classes), they said that they got their olive oil from a local farm. There are tons of local farms there growing olive oils — and the Italians were always asking, “Where does this oil come from, which farm?” and so on.
26/03/2008 at 8:09 pm Permalink
Napa Valley Update:
So my large gallon bucket of Napa Valley Extra Virgin Olive OIl hardened after two days of being in the fridge.
I talked to Napa Valley today and they told me that they have also had their third party testers claim they have 100% true olive oil. She was aware of the hardening/cloudiness test and wasn’t suprised when I told her mine hardened. Their olives come from farms in the north sacramento valley area.
It seems like the California oils are more reliable.
30/03/2008 at 4:22 pm Permalink
I put my Bertolli brand olive oil in the fridge last night, and it was hard by this morning. I was expecting it to not get hard! It is the Classico variety, not the EVOO, and so it’s made from some refined and some virgin olive oils. But it still hardened overnight, so that makes me feel better as my budget won’t hold many super expensive items.
I got to your blog from the newwapf yahoo group, FYI.
I love your blog… it’s so full of information, thank you so much!
30/03/2008 at 5:13 pm Permalink
I know you probably won’t be super-shocked, but the Sam’s Club olive oil did not harden at all.
30/03/2008 at 7:15 pm Permalink
LOL! That’s funny, Michelle!
Megan, that is interesting… maybe some versions of the Bertolli are safe?
30/03/2008 at 7:35 pm Permalink
I’m typically not a skeptic but I just can’t really believe this olive oil conspiracy stuff! How can they add ingredients that aren’t listed on the label? There was a great show on this morning about olive oil on pbs, on The Victory Garden. Nothing about the “olive oil conspiracy” but a little about Extra Virgin qualification requirements……considering this it’s hard to believe these companies could really get away with adulterated product. I gotta buy the wapf conference recordings and hear it for myself, huh?
Regardless, thought I’d add my findings.
Bionaturae EVOO, hardened solid.
Altera Greek EVOO, not a bit.
Costco Filipo Berio Organic EVOO, not a bit.
Thanks for your blog, it’s my favorite these days. For only being down with wapf-style eating for 6 months or so you really know alot and do your research and lay it out nicely here. Thanks mama!
31/03/2008 at 12:27 am Permalink
I got some Spectrum Naturals “Extra virgin olive oil – first cold pressed”. I was disappointed when the next morning showed it cloudy, but not solid. However, today I took it out and it was completely solid. Yay!
My fridge died a bit back, and I think this was more a wakeup call that I’ve been keeping my new fridge a bit on the warm side. I’ve turned it down a notch, and will repeat the test.
BTW – I’m going to Italy this summer, and may have a couple spare days there before my set itinerary. Your B&B with cooking lessons sounds very cool. Would you send me the any info you have about it? Thanks!
31/03/2008 at 6:08 am Permalink
Hi, Megan,
Sally just barely mentions it in the WAPF lecture. This New Yorker magazine article goes into detail about how they do it:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller
The adulterating happens abroad. By the time the Italian and American companies get it, it is labeled “pure olive oil” — only it isn’t.
In Italy, the people I met only use olive oil if they know the farm it comes from.
I’m glad you like the blog!
Ann Marie
31/03/2008 at 6:13 am Permalink
Hi, John, that is good news about Spectrum. I bought some of their sunflower oil a while back (keep it in the fridge) and I was wondering about the quality.
If there is any way you can go to the B&B, definitely do it. It is in Tuscany. It was an amazing experience. Run by Chris and Tina (both former Wall St. bankers) — very sweet people. They have 3 little adorable kids. They will arrange for you whatever you want — you can either have Chris cook for you (incredible food — some of the best I had in Italy) or you can have a cooking class with him — or he can arrange a wine tasting tour. It’s not truffle season in the summer so I don’t think there will be any truffle hunts. They also have breakfast on the patio in the morning. You will not be disappointed if you go.
Here is the url: http://www.ankhura.com/
Click on the PHOTOS link at the bottom, then click on MORE, then click on COOKING CLASSES. There is a picture of me making pizza (in the pink shirt)!
Let me know if you decide to go!
Ann Marie
08/04/2008 at 5:10 am Permalink
Can’t believe that people are paying good money for something supposed to be healthy and high quality, instead
they are getting doctored oils and all this because of marketing.
not for anything but i am a producer-importer of the! finest oil in greece if not europe. The brand is kolympari (MIHELAKIS FAMILY). this is a pdo label and controlled to the strictest conditions. We control from the picking to putting it on your table. we rely only on ourselves because these are our orchards and not a bottling company selling you oil or a co-op.
You can see our product at olivetreeoil.com or bio-krete.com.
Unlike others, our oil is of neutraceutical grade and backed by one of northamerica’s leading epidimiologists soon to be revealed. We back our oil with a human clinical study so when we say we are the best, we are! We are a bridge for our family from krete to north america. we have capacities of 35000 tons for export and local dist. chances are any good oil being imported to italy is our oil. Please we are not saying that we are the only fine oil by far but if you dig you will see one of the leaders. choose carefully when spendind your hard earned dollars.
08/04/2008 at 6:27 am Permalink
Thank you Louis.
09/04/2008 at 8:40 am Permalink
I was reading this post with interest and went to the
azurestandard.com website. While searching for
additional information on the web I came across this
article concerning napa valley naturals
I hope that the cut and paste fits the format
California Olive Oil Council Sues Olive Oil Distributor
As part of its ongoing effort to shield consumers from falsely-labeled olive oil, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) has initiated a suit against Napa Valley Trading Company and its owner Kendall Cook for deceptive marketing practices in the sale of Napa Valley Naturals olive oil. The suit was brought in Marin County Superior Court and alleges that “Napa Valley Naturals olive oils have no legitimate connection to Napa Valley, that they purchase their oil from bulk oil distributors rather than small farmers, and that much of the oil sold by defendants comes from outside of the Napa Valley, Northern California, and even from outside the United States. They also claim that the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are misleadingly labeled as being of “extra virgin” quality when they consist of inferior grade olive oil and even imitation olive oil that has been mixed with other oils.
The Napa Valley Naturals name, logo, label, wine-shaped bottle, marketing and advertising are all intended to falsely suggest that the olives from which the oils are made come from Napa Valley, California. In fact the olives are not grown primarily or even in any material part in Napa Valley, California.
Other representations in written advertising and on the labels on the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils also falsely represent that the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are made from olives planted and picked by small farmers on “select orchards” or from “150 year old” trees.
The COOC alleges that the labels of many of the brands of Napa Valley Naturals olive oil falsely state that defendants press their own olives into oil when in fact they do not press the olive oil they sell. The labels also imply that the olive oils are manufactured in Napa Valley, which is also untrue.
The suit alleges that in written advertising and labeling, the Napa Valley Naturals falsely represent that each of the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are “extra virgin.” The term “extra virgin olive oil” is commonly understood by consumers to denote the highest quality of olive oil. Because of this, consumers pay a premium for this grade of oil. In the olive oil industry, the term “extra virgin olive oil” describes olive oil that meets the most stringent standards regarding manufacturing, chemical composition, taste and other organoleptic qualities.
Despite being labeled “extra virgin” and being advertised as such, the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are not extra virgin. The COOC has found that the oils consist either of inferior grade olive oil, refined olive oil, or in some cases, imitation oil where the olive oil has been mixed with canola or other seed oils. For example, chemical testing of three bottles of Napa Valley Natural’s “Organic Extra Virgin” olive oil purchased from defendants revealed significant amounts of refined seed oil (probably canola).
The suit describes how advertising and labeling of the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils contain numerous other false and misleading representations, including use of the term “organic”, when in fact the olive oil does not meet the established standard for organic foods. They falsely represent that the oils are unfiltered and unrefined when some of the oil is, in fact, filtered and/or refined. Napa Valley Naturals also claim that their oils are “cholesterol free” “sodium free” or “GMO free”, which unlawfully and misleadingly suggests that other olive oils contain sodium, cholesterol or GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and that the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are therefore of a superior quality. They use the American flag on their labels and advertising to falsely suggest that the Napa Valley Naturals olive oils are entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced in the United States.
The COOC seeks to stop the mislabeling of Napa Valley Naturals products and to require restitution to all consumers harmed by Napa Valley Naturals and their products. The COOC is represented by the San Francisco-based law firm Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP.
While the validity of this particular suit will be determined in court, California olive oil industry activists are eager to find miscreants for several reasons. Unscrupulous vendors can cause a destructive chain reaction in the industry. If a distributor can shave costs and steal market share by using refined or imported oil, it puts price pressure on other producers who may succumb to similar unscrupulous activities to keep their business afloat. Publicity about one altered oil quickly tears down consumer confidence which has been painstakingly built up by most in the industry. Hopefully the publicity will also chasten those thinking of mislabeling oil, which will lead to more honest labeling and in the long run more consumer confidence
The COOC suit should also encourage discussion of labeling claims that fall into a gray area of untruth. Should olive oil claim to be sodium free? A retailer may as well claim their olive oil is free range farmed, carbohydrate free, mercury free, nuclear free or made without any animal testing. Some olive oil is sold with dreamy pictures of old world processing equipment such as Napa Valley Natural’s picture below of a wooden screw
09/04/2008 at 8:50 am Permalink
Whoa — thanks Patrick!
10/04/2008 at 1:37 pm Permalink
Hi, I happened upon your website and was fascinated by the Olive Oil test. I put my Colavita brand olive oil in the fridge and was shocked when it actually solidified in less than 24 hours. I thought for sure it was not the real thing since it was reasonably priced and a brand that is somewhat common. Thanks for the great info.
11/04/2008 at 6:53 am Permalink
Good to know!
It’s interesting — if you go to their website, they talk about which region the olive oil comes from. They name the region and talk about the families that grow the olives.
http://www.colavita.com/history.htm
This is different from most of those other olive oil websites — they talk in vague terms about the “rolling hills of Tuscany”. They never mention specific regions or farms.
21/05/2008 at 9:45 am Permalink
In response to Patric comment about the Napa Valley Trading company.
I did some research to figure whatever happened with that matter and it seems it has been resolved by now:
http://www.cooc.com/fpress.html
“The California Olive Oil Council (COOC) has just announced the settlement of the lawsuit it initiated against Napa Valley Trading Company in October of 2004. The lawsuit alleged mislabeling of bottles of Napa Valley Naturals olive oil. As a result of this settlement, Napa Valley Trading Company has agreed to revise its labels to better reflect the actual origin of the oils and require its suppliers to test the oils to ensure they meet International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) standards for what can be called Extra Virgin. In addition a monetary donation has been awarded to the COOC by Napa Valley Trading Company. “
08/07/2008 at 4:33 pm Permalink
I use Fillipo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I have refrigerated it and it turns solid. Every dressing I’ve ever made with it solidifies upon refrigeration as well. I was told that a true E.V. olive oil will taste fruity on the front of the tongue, then peppery at the back of the tongue when you swallow. This brand of olive oil passed this test as well.
Not sure why you’ve had different results…
08/07/2008 at 5:06 pm Permalink
Paula -
Well, we do not know for sure that the Filippo Berio oil is adulterated.
This fridge test is of course not exactly the *most* scientific test.
That said, I have read that it is hard for expert olive oil tasters to tell if an olive oil is adulterated — so a taste test doesn’t actually tell much (especially for most of us non-experts).
However, I asked the farmer from Adams Ranch Olive Farm if most olive oils are adulterated. He said, “Absolutely.” I think he said he estimated that around 80-90% of the store-bought brands are adulterated — either with cheaper oils or with rancid oils.
And look at this:
“Large olive oil brands, such as Filippo Berio and Bertolli, have long cultivated the image that its oil comes from rustic, rolling groves in the Italian countryside.
Instead, it often arrives in Italy in tanker trucks from destinations as diverse as Tunisia, Turkey, Greece and Spain.
According to EU laws, foreign oil can be sold as Italian olive oil if it is cut with a small amount of the domestic product.
Only four per cent of olive oil leaving Italy is pure Italian oil.
Alberto Fontana, the president of Salov, the company that makes Filippo Berio, admitted that only about a fifth of the company’s oil is pressed from Italian olives.”
http://www.olives101.com/2007/05/06/murky-italian-olive-oil-to-be-pored-over/
So most of their oil is not Italian. Whether it is made from all olive oil or not, I don’t know. We also don’t know if it is made with part rancid oil.
I guess that’s the point — we don’t know. Plus, do you really want to buy olive oil that comes all the way from Italy — when it’s not even real Italian olive oil?
After I did this test, I decided that, because I don’t know for sure about those other oils, I would only buy olive oil from farmers who grow their own olives. I just don’t trust those big companies.
30/07/2008 at 11:52 am Permalink
I have used Pompeian–both the organic Extra Virgin, first cold press and the regular 100% pure & natural. Guess what? They flunked the test.
I went a got one that actually had an ingredients list: 100% pure unrefined olive oil.
If it doesn’t have an ingredients list–avoid it. It is not real olive oil. Sickening…
16/08/2008 at 10:38 am Permalink
why did you publish my comment. when i google my name it appears.
19/08/2008 at 7:25 pm Permalink
Thanks for the useful info on checking for the crap stuff. I have another question: I’m making my own char-grilled capsicum that is marinated in red wine vinegar and olive oil. The oil is the real deal because it goes completely cloudy and really thick when kept in the fridge. But does anyone know how to get the capsicum out without the 5mm coating of thick oil on it? I like olive oil but not that much! I’m sure I will eat the capsicum in a month so I dont need to store it for 6months in the fridge. Can I just leave it out on the bench or in a dark cupboard?
19/08/2008 at 7:42 pm Permalink
Are those red peppers?
You can leave it in a dark, cool cupboard. Olive oil should keep in a cool dark place for several months to a year at least.
25/08/2008 at 7:21 pm Permalink
Yes they are red peppers. Thanks for the advice Cheeseslave!
04/02/2009 at 8:14 am Permalink
Whole Foods cold pressed extra virgin olive oil failed. I am not happy!! That was a large chunk of my grocery budget! I could have got 5 quarts of milk-fed pork lard for what I paid for fake olive oil!
05/02/2009 at 7:34 pm Permalink
With regard to the quote from the NY Times article saying that only 4 percent of olive oils produced or distributed in the U.S. were found to be pure, I found this correction on the NY Times website:
” An article in The Living Section on Wednesday reported concerns about the sale of impure olive oil in the United States. But the article considerably overstated the extent of the problem, to a degree that undercuts its basic premise.
In 1995, the Food and Drug Administration tested 73 olive oils produced or distributed by companies based in the United States. Of those, one was found to be adulterated with other oils. In other words, 98 percent of the oils were pure, compared with the 4 percent reported in the article. In 1994, the F.D.A. tested 72 oils and again found only one impure, not 29 percent, as the article said. (The F.D.A does not disclose names of the brands it tests.)
If the editors had known the correct figures, the article would not have been published. ”
Apparently the journalist who wrote the story did some adulterating of her own.
On a separate note, I have my doubts about the refrigerator test. I’ve read that olive oil is frequently adulterated with hazelnut oil, which has a very similar fatty acid profile. So it probably behaves a lot like olive oil when refrigerated. A quick Google search turned up various scholarly articles about detecting adulteration with hazelnut oil using “solid phase microextraction”, “multidimensional gas chromatography,” and other complicated-sounding techniques. If it were as easy as putting the oil in the fridge overnight, no one would be working on techniques like that!
I really enjoy your blog, Cheeseslave!
05/02/2009 at 8:04 pm Permalink
Hi, Erica
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
The FDA, huh?
“98 percent of the oils were pure, compared with the 4 percent reported in the article. In 1994, the F.D.A. tested 72 oils and again found only one impure, not 29 percent, as the article said.”
How exactly did they arrive at this assesment? If you read the New Yorker article, it’s very difficult to actually test for adulteration.
Did you read the New Yorker article, by the way?
Curious to know how the FDA tested the oils — what their methods were. Do you have a source for this?
I agree that the fridge test is NOT scientific.
However I did read that the hazelnut oil they do refine the oil with is *highly* refined.
I don’t know about you but I when I spend money on olive oil, I want REAL olive oil. Not hazelnut oil. Not soybean oil. Not vegetable oil. I want olive oil.
Plus I have very little respect for or trust in the FDA.
Interestingly, when I went to Tuscany a few years ago, the people there were highly skeptical of any olive oil if they did not personally know the grower. I didn’t understand it at the time — but looking back, I think it speaks volumes.
06/02/2009 at 9:51 am Permalink
Hi Cheeseslave,
I don’t know any details about how the FDA did its testing. And like you, I don’t have a whole lot of respect for the FDA, although I’m hoping the new administration will finally give the FDA some muscle!
I have no idea whether the FDA testing was in fact accurate — I just wanted to set the record straight about the NY Times quote, since the NY Times clearly has retracted it and the entire article unequivocally. I wonder what the back story is about that article — did the journalist just make up those figures to make a good story?? A quick Google search didn’t turn up any information about how that story got to press (as a science journalist, I’m curious about these things).
I certainly don’t want hazelnut oil in my olive oil, by any means! I just think it’s harder to detect hazelnut oil than putting the oil in the fridge.
And although I don’t believe in the refrigerator test, just out of curiosity I put two bottles of olive oil in the fridge overnight: Trader Joe’s President’s Reserve extra-virgin olive oil (“Product of Italy”), which I use for sauteeing, and Trader Joe’s Extra Virgin California Estate unfiltered olive oil, made from “arbequina olives,” which I used for salad dressing. Both were totally liquid in the morning. Not sure what it all means….
Nevertheless, I think I’ll start buying my olive oil at the farmers market (even though farmers market prices up here in Berkeley induce severe sticker shock). At least that way I can be pretty sure about what I’m getting.
Erica
07/02/2009 at 12:45 pm Permalink
Wow! I had NO idea! Thankfully, I don’t use olive oil much. I use butter and coconut oil. But I do like to use olive oil to drizzle on salad or dip my bread in.
I used to buy Carapelli, I liked the flavor, but I started buying Star brand because it was labeled organic and cost less than Carapelli. Well, I took your challenge and put it in the fridge. At 24 hours there was no solidification, that was last night. This morning I noticed little flecks in it, but it is far from solid. I guess this makes sense, I knew something had to be wrong with it to be such a low price.
Thanks for this info, I will be posting on my blog about my findings.
Shannon’s last blog post..Curried Sweet Potato Soup
26/03/2009 at 5:21 am Permalink
Mine passed the test. I use “Full Circle – Organic Olive Oil”. I out it in the frig yesterday at around 4pm and it was solid this morning. It does say on the bottle “do not refrigerate” does it somehow ruin the oil?
01/08/2009 at 10:56 am Permalink
I have a few bottles of olive oil, and decided to put them to the test after reading this post…
I have Spectrum’s “Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, First Cold Pressed” and Olive Pit’s “Mission Variety Extra VIrgin Olive Oil Cold Pressed”. Put them in the fridge last night.
They BOTH fail. Not one sign of solidification. =( They aren’t huge bottles (25.4 FL OZ and 12.7 FL OZ, respectivley), and they were in the fridge for over 12 hours…
I have one more bottle of olive oil left… Napa Valley’s “Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Delicate & Mild, First Cold Pressing, ect…”. I just put it in the fridge, and will check on it in the morning tomorrow… These oils are expensive, and it irritates me to think that they aren’t genuine… >:(
02/08/2009 at 8:26 am Permalink
… Checked on the Napa Valley olive oil and…
It fails.
*le sigh* Three bottles of expensive olive oil, and now I don’t know what to do with them…
05/08/2009 at 12:40 pm Permalink
Nevermind… the Napa Valley olive oil solidified… it just took it like, 5 days to do so… (the other olive oils are still liquid, though…). Then again, it WAS in my fridge door, where it may possibly be slightly less cool than the rest of the fridge…
05/08/2009 at 12:53 pm Permalink
Kit -
This test really is not scientific… and I don’t know how accurate it is.
That said, I’m with the Italians in that they don’t trust ANY olive oil unless they actually know the farmer. I think that’s the net net of this whole thing.
20/03/2010 at 10:32 pm Permalink
The reason why they are all fake is because in the US they CAN be… LEGALLY!
“In the United States, unfortunately, the term “extra virgin” means absolutely nothing. Unlike labels such as ‘organic’, extra virgin remains undefined.
The governmental agency responsible for olive oil labeling, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, does not recognize the term extra virgin. Instead, the USDA uses the words it set down in 1949 to distinguish between the various grades of olive oil: fancy, choice, and standard.
With no definition behind it, manufacturers are free to put the words “extra virgin” on every bottle of olive oil they sell. And, since extra virgin is universally recognized as the highest grade of olive oil, nearly every bottle of olive oil sold in the United States carries the words “extra virgin olive oil” on the label.”
http://allthingsolive.com/id27.html
Time to join the oliveoil metric system!
16/07/2010 at 6:51 pm Permalink
i put bertolli in the fridge the next mooring it was still liquid…..on the ingredients it said it was a mix of pure olive oils from different places……is this legal????