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. 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.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this post, I have heard from reputable sources that the fridge test is not accurate. That said, you should still read the article in the New Yorker Most olive oils are not real.
Where to Buy Real Olive Oil
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I’m sorry, but I don’t agree with Sally Fallon. Her claim of, “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” is a bunch of hooey. The truth about solidified and non-solidified chilled Olive Oils can be found here: http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/freezing-olive-oil
Mark, I went to the site and read the article. From my reading, the author is not talking about whether chilling for ten hours in the refrigerator will allow one to tell oil made from real olives from oil made from another source. What the article does seem to see is that (1) whether a sample of oil freezes into crystals or not does not confirm if it’s extra virgin or not (in either case, it is still suggested that solidifying means olive) and (2) olive oil hardening is not proof that olive oil is a saturated fat. If you have some additional evidence about why the ten hour refrigerator test will not distinguish olive oils from other oils, please post. Unless I am wrong, you have misread or misinterpreted the article you’ve linked to.
Fred, you’re right: that is, essentially, all this article says. However, this explanation from Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel is much more explicit in saying that the ‘fridge test’ is bunkum:
http://www.aromadictionary.com/EVOO_blog/?p=550
Another factor that Richard doesn’t emphasize is that the ‘fridge test’ is based on the idea that olive oil is very high in monounsaturated fats, with some saturates; in fact, however, and despite what is often said, some authentic olive oil has as little as 55% monounsaturates, due to specific olive cultivar (such as Arbequina or Chemlali) and to a lesser extent environmental influences:
http://www.nutricion.org/publicaciones/revistas/extra-virgin_29_3.pdf
(See pg. 19).
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/87197/pf231-Testing-olive-oil-quality.pdf
http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/chemical-characteristics#Fatty
I recommend you to try Portuguese olive oils. they have a very good quality.
Actually, there is good, bad, and awful oil from every country: Portugal, Italy, Greece, Chile, Argentina, California, Australia … f you are looking for authentic, high-quality EVOO, I highly recommend the database of producers and sources of premium extra-virgin olive oil assembled by Tom Mueller, author of “Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil”:
http://www.extravirginity.com/great-oil/best-olive-oils/
Yuck! Thanks for the update on this, I will be tossing out my Filippo Berio out tonight and looking for a better brand of REAL olive oil. I’ll let you know what I find!
I too was concerned about fake olive oils on the market, unknowingly I bought a bottle of Fillipo Berio yesterday. I put a small sample of it in the fridge, this morning I checked on it & it surprisingly was solid. So now I’m more confused than ever! If the UC Davis research list that Fillipo Berio as not “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” standard but it passed the fridge test, so what am I to think?
Brian B: as I and others have already posted, the “fridge test” for olive oil recommended by WAPF is very unreliable: fake or low-quality oils can pass, and real EVOO can fail. See this explanation from Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel:
http://www.aromadictionary.com/EVOO_blog/?p=550
I wish that Anne Marie would revise this article, as it’s still confusing folks like yourself, directly and via trackbacks …
If you are looking for authentic, high-quality EVOO, I highly recommend the database of producers and sources of premium extra-virgin olive oil assembled by Tom Mueller, author of “Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil”:
.
http://www.extravirginity.com/great-oil/best-olive-oils/
No surprise: Filipo Berio is not on the list
I tested my Full Circle brand “100% organic olive oil” from Target and it was fake. Go figure… time to start shopping the ethnic markets!
I recently bought Carbonell Extra Virgin Olive Oil and placed it in the fridge and to my surprise it did not become solid. Wow! What does one have to do around here to get real olive oil? Grown your own olives and make it yourself? Dang. It had smell and good taste and still not real. What a rip off.
Cassandra: As I posted July 7 and several times previously, the “fridge test” for olive oil recommended by WAPF is very unreliable: fake or low-quality oils can pass, and real EVOO can fail. See this explanation from Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel:
http://www.aromadictionary.com/EVOO_blog/?p=550
I wish that Anne Marie would revise this article, as it’s still confusing folks like yourself, directly and via trackbacks …
I would like to point out too, that if they are guarunteeing the same flavors, especially over 150 years, that it cannot be real! flavors change because of differing weather conditions, soil nutrients, and other factors. If it isn’t changing then there’s something off! Gross!
Hi Ann Marie,
I did take the olive oil challenge with Safeway brand Extra Virgin olive oil. After being in the frig overnight, the very bottom had some solids in it. After being in the frig three nights in a row, The solids were about 1/3 the way up the bottle.
You did not specify how many days you left the Adam’s Ranch in the frig. If it was only overnight one night, then Safeway brand extra virgin olive oil is 1/3 real olive oil, which is better than Berio. I will try to find Adam’s Ranch in my neighborhood health food store. Thank You for the tip. Paula
Howdy! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin
for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one?
Thanks a lot!
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