EVO olive oil and industrial oil: what are the differences?
When we go to the supermarket we usually find ourselves in front of shelves with oil and here many bottles, some with the words extra virgin olive oil, others simply with the words olive oil. It is not just a labeling problem, now we will understand the differences between an EVO oil from Frantoio and an industrial olive oil.
Indicates a product that has not been chemically altered in any way. The methods can be numerous and different from each other:
- can be extracted in traditional stone crushers
- in modern continuous cycle plants able to combine cold extraction and a high quality product with few processing residues which in any case do not affect quality.
However, the legislation also has another form of protection, in fact, in order to apply the Frantoio Evo oil label, the acidity must not exceed 0.8% per 100 grams. Olio Aroldo has set the value at 0.17%. There are oils that, despite not having been added, have a high acidity, this may be due for example to poor conservation, for example the rancid oil has a high acidity. But the acidity can also derive from other factors such as in the case in which too much time has passed between harvesting and milling. Usually you can have an oil with high acidity even if the olives have been affected by some disease.
It must be emphasized that the acidity of an oil is not always perceived on the palate or on the nose, this occurs only in striking cases, for example with rancid oil, in other cases only a ' chemical analysis of the oil leads to detect the exact degree of acidity.
That is why it is usually a low quality product that inevitably sells for a lower price. Since this is a chemical process that the law allows, it is not harmful to health, or at least it is not very harmful, but certainly there is no taste, smell and nutritional properties that characterize the Evo di Frantoio oil and which have allowed to this food to be considered nutraceutical, that is able to nourish, treat and protect our body.
Since this is a chemical process that the law allows, it is not harmful to health, or at least it is not very harmful, but there is certainly no taste, smell and nutritional properties that characterize Frantoio's EVO oil and that have allowed to this food to be considered nutraceutical, that is able to nourish and cure.
According to Coldiretti customers should pay attention to the price. A liter of Olio Evo should not cost less than 8-10 euros. If the price is lower it means that we are faced with a bottle containing oil blends, arrived from Israel, Spain, Morocco.
The blends are usually made of 50% of imported oil, 40% of rectified oil and 10% of our Italian olives. Rectified oil is defined in this way because it is obtained through a chemical process, it is deprived of smell and taste and brought to an acidity of 0.8 ph. To obtain the green color, typical of extra virgin olive oil, a certain amount of chlorophyll or artificial flavors is added to give that spicy aftertaste and that strongly fruity flavor.
This is why the suggestion is to decrease the chain between producer and consumer and therefore buy directly from the producer himself. We have decided to take a further step towards quality by taking organic certification because we have always treated our olive grove as an organic olive grove: we never used chemical fertilizers, everything was fertilized with manure and we never used external agents. From there, requesting certification was a simple and almost necessary step. Organic is not always a certainty, but basically it is synonymous with a healthy oil, which comes from untreated olives and without chemical agents, even if the quality is also given by many other factors.
What is extra virgin olive oil from Frantoio
Olive oil is for many a common food, in reality it is a super food, in some cases it can even fall into the category of nutraceutical foods, when it contains more than 250 mg / kg of Polyphenols (Biophenols). Olio Aroldo has set the value at 577 mg / kg. We use it almost without realizing that it is one of the finest products we have, but we must not forget that since it is a high value product, it is consequently subject to possible counterfeits and therefore the only weapon that the consumer has is to turn to a small producer who produces his extra virgin olive oil, better if certified and analyzed.Indicates a product that has not been chemically altered in any way. The methods can be numerous and different from each other:
- can be extracted in traditional stone crushers
- in modern continuous cycle plants able to combine cold extraction and a high quality product with few processing residues which in any case do not affect quality.
How is extra virgin olive oil from Frantoio obtained?
Producing an olive oil of remarkable quality requires the care and desire of the producer of good healthy, genuine and consequently excellent food to delight the palate of every customer. To have an Evo di Frantoio oil, it is essential that the extraction method is cold, ie at a temperature that is around 25 ° C; because it maintains all its organoleptic characteristics and nutritional values including in particular vitamin E, an important antioxidant.However, the legislation also has another form of protection, in fact, in order to apply the Frantoio Evo oil label, the acidity must not exceed 0.8% per 100 grams. Olio Aroldo has set the value at 0.17%. There are oils that, despite not having been added, have a high acidity, this may be due for example to poor conservation, for example the rancid oil has a high acidity. But the acidity can also derive from other factors such as in the case in which too much time has passed between harvesting and milling. Usually you can have an oil with high acidity even if the olives have been affected by some disease.
It must be emphasized that the acidity of an oil is not always perceived on the palate or on the nose, this occurs only in striking cases, for example with rancid oil, in other cases only a ' chemical analysis of the oil leads to detect the exact degree of acidity.
Industrial olive oil
Industrial olive oil, unlike Frantoio's EVO oil, is not subject to all these rules. The acidity allowed in this case is 1%. The difference, however, does not end here because its composition also changes, in fact it is made up of a mixture that contains virgin olive oil from the mill and refined olive oil, that is, the latter oil subjected to a chemical-physical process that also includes additives and aimed at eliminating the defects of the oil, that is a bad taste, a bad smell, to change the color and eliminate the acidity.That is why it is usually a low quality product that inevitably sells for a lower price. Since this is a chemical process that the law allows, it is not harmful to health, or at least it is not very harmful, but certainly there is no taste, smell and nutritional properties that characterize the Evo di Frantoio oil and which have allowed to this food to be considered nutraceutical, that is able to nourish, treat and protect our body.
Since this is a chemical process that the law allows, it is not harmful to health, or at least it is not very harmful, but there is certainly no taste, smell and nutritional properties that characterize Frantoio's EVO oil and that have allowed to this food to be considered nutraceutical, that is able to nourish and cure.
According to Coldiretti customers should pay attention to the price. A liter of Olio Evo should not cost less than 8-10 euros. If the price is lower it means that we are faced with a bottle containing oil blends, arrived from Israel, Spain, Morocco.
The blends are usually made of 50% of imported oil, 40% of rectified oil and 10% of our Italian olives. Rectified oil is defined in this way because it is obtained through a chemical process, it is deprived of smell and taste and brought to an acidity of 0.8 ph. To obtain the green color, typical of extra virgin olive oil, a certain amount of chlorophyll or artificial flavors is added to give that spicy aftertaste and that strongly fruity flavor.
Where to find extra virgin olive oil from Frantoio
To be sure of buying extra virgin olive oil, it is important to read the labels carefully at the supermarket, but even this is not enough because a quality product exposed to heat and light, as happens with supermarket bottles, still loses some of its properties. The label remains the only real means we have at our disposal to understand what we are buying.This is why the suggestion is to decrease the chain between producer and consumer and therefore buy directly from the producer himself. We have decided to take a further step towards quality by taking organic certification because we have always treated our olive grove as an organic olive grove: we never used chemical fertilizers, everything was fertilized with manure and we never used external agents. From there, requesting certification was a simple and almost necessary step. Organic is not always a certainty, but basically it is synonymous with a healthy oil, which comes from untreated olives and without chemical agents, even if the quality is also given by many other factors.
