- For Popeye's girlfriend, see Olive Oyl.
The Manufacture of Oil, drawn and engraved by J. Amman in the Sixteenth Century. In agriculture, olive oil is an oil extracted from the fruit of the European olive tree (Olea europaea L.), which originated in the Mediterranean area. It is used in cooking, cosmetics, and soaps. Olive oil is regarded as a healthy dietary oil because of its high content of monounsaturated fat.
Grades and classification
The International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) sets standards of quality used by the major olive oil producing countries. It officially governs 95% of global production, and holds great influence over the rest. IOOC terminology is precise, but it can lead to confusion between the words that describe production and the words used on retail labels.
Production
Olive oil is classified by how it was produced, by its chemistry, and by its flavor:
- Extraction. How was it made? All production begins by applying physical pressure at room temperature to the olive fruit, which extracts oil and leaves a substance called pomace.
- Virgin means the oil produced at room temperature and only using pressure—in other words, with no chemical treatment. Marketing materials refer to cold pressed or mechanically pressed, which mean the same thing. The term virgin oil referring to production is different than Virgin Oil on a retail label.
- Refined means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes and remove much of the acid content. Refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil; the retail labels extra-virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil cannot contain any refined oil.
- Olive-pomace oil means oil extracted from the pomace using chemical solvents—mostly hexane—and by heat.
- Chemistry. What is in it? Quantitative analytical methods determine the oil's acidity, defined as the percent, measured by weight, of oleic acid in it.
- Flavor. How does it taste? The oil is subjectively judged by a panel of professional tasters in a blind taste test. This is also called its organoleptic quality.
Retail labels
The standards are complicated.[1] (http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/oliveworld_usingoil.asp) The labels in stores, however, clearly show a oil's grade:
- Extra-virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil.
- Virgin olive oil is also cold-pressed, with an acidity less than 2%, and judged to have a good taste. There can be no refined oil in virgin olive oil.
- Olive oil is a blend of virgin oil and refined virgin oil, containing at most 1% acidity. It commonly lacks a strong flavor.
- Olive-pomace oil is a blend of refined olive-pomace oil and possibly some virgin oil. It is fit for consumption, but it may not be called olive oil. Olive-pomace oil is rarely found in a grocery store, but is often used in restaurants.
- Lampante oil is olive oil not used for consumption; lampante comes from olive oil's ancient use as fuel in oil-burning lamps. Lampante oil is mostly used in the industrial market.
Understanding labels
While it would be unfair to describe them as deceptive, manufacturers choose the wording on labels very carefully.
- Imported from Italy sounds like the olives were grown in Italy, but really only means that the oil was mixed there. A corner of the same label may note that it was packed in Italy using oil grown in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Tunisia. Tunisia lacks the cachet that Italy holds in the consumer marketplace, even though Tunisia's oil may be equal to Italian oil. Also, since nearly half of the world's olive harvest comes from Spain, it is likely the oil "imported from Italy" was grown in Spain.
- 100% Pure Olive Oil sounds superior, but it is often the lowest quality you can buy in a retail store: better grades would have 'virgin' on the label. Having said that, since high heat can destroy the rich flavor of extra-virgin oil, 100% pure might be the perfect oil for baking and frying.
- Made from refined olive oils sounds like a good thing, but it means the taste and acidity was chemically produced.
- Lite olive oil sounds low fat, but in fact refers to a lighter color. All olive oil (which is, after all, fat) has 120 calories (500 kilojoules) per tablespoon (33 kJ/ml).
- From hand-picked olives sounds like extra care went into the oil's production, but it is not clear that a manual harvest produces better oil than the common tree-shaking method.
Olive oil production
Traditionally, olive oil was produced by beating the trees with sticks to knock the olives off and crushing them in stone or wooden mortars or beam presses. Nowadays, olives are ground to tiny bits, obtaining a paste that is mixed with water and processed by a centrifuge, which extracts the oil from the paste, leaving behind pomace.
The market
The International Olive Oil Council is an intergovernmental organization based in Madrid, Spain that promotes olive oil around the world by tracking oil production, defining quality standards, and monitoring authenticity. More than 95% of the world's olives grow in nations that are members of the Council. The United States is not a member of the IOOC, and the United States Department of Agriculture does not legally recognize its classifications (such as extra-virgin olive oil). The USDA uses a different system, that it defined in 1948 before the IOOC existed. The California Olive Oil Council, a private US trade group, is petitioning the Department to adapt terminology and practices that shadow the IOOC's rules. [2] (http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/ppbdocketlist.htm)
More than 40% of the world's olive oil supply originates in Spain, followed by Italy and Greece. Much Spanish olive oil is imported into Italy, where it is both consumed and repackaged for sale abroad as Italian olive oil. Although boutique groceries sell high-quality Spanish olive oil at a premium, for lower-quality oil the Italian origin is considered a selling point. France, the United States (California), Turkey, Portugal, and Tunisia are the other major producers.
Producing countries
The main producing countries in 2003 were: [3] (http://r0.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/olive/market.htm)
- Spain: 44%
- Italy: 20%
- Greece: 13%
- Turkey: 7%
- Syria: 7%
- Morocco: 2%
- Tunisia: 2%
- Portugal: 1%
- Lybia: <1%
- Others: 4%
Health claims
In the United States, producers of olive oil may place the following health claim on product labels: "Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about two tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day." [4] (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01129.html) This decision was announced November 1, 2004 by the Food and Drug Administration after application was made to the FDA by producers. Similar labels are permitted for walnuts and omega-3 fatty acids which also contain monounsaturated oil.
Olive oil in history
Historically, olive oil was used for medicines and as a fuel in oil lamps.
Olive oil was a central product of the Minoan civilization, where it is thought to have represented wealth. The Minoans put the pulp into settling tanks and, when the oil had risen to the top, drained the water from the bottom.
External links
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