Throughout the last few years, I have became utterly obsessed with all the positives associated with extra virgin olive oil. Now when most of you think about extra virgin olive oil, you are most likely referring to that store bought Bertolli or Colavita stuff that retails for $6-$10/bottle. If this is the case then you have not tried a pure, high quality extra virgin olive oil and we surely aren't on the same page here.
These widely known, mass produced store brands are almost always not what they claim to be on the bottle's label. Unfortunately, the U.S. has standards but does not regulate the olive oil business and therefore allows consumers to be mislead by large olive oil corporations who, many times, claim their oil is of extra virgin quality and is labeled as "Italian olive oil" when in fact the oil has been blended with oil which has been imported to Italy from countries like Spain, Tunisia, France, etc. Even worse, it may not even be from olives altogether! Many mass producers will sometimes adulterate their olive oil with cheaper oils such as hazelnut, sunflower and cotton seed oil in order to increase their profits! Please don't be fooled though! Much of the extra virgin olive oil exported from Italy is surely not what it claims to be.
The way I look at it, this is "legal fraud" and we the consumers are getting fooled and ripped off by these large oil corporations. Let's help put an end to this altogether before all the small quality producers are driven out of business due to the readily available and cheap inferior oils out there.
I'd like to share an very interesting article written a few years back by Tom Mueller called Slippery Business that may shock you. Enjoy.
These widely known, mass produced store brands are almost always not what they claim to be on the bottle's label. Unfortunately, the U.S. has standards but does not regulate the olive oil business and therefore allows consumers to be mislead by large olive oil corporations who, many times, claim their oil is of extra virgin quality and is labeled as "Italian olive oil" when in fact the oil has been blended with oil which has been imported to Italy from countries like Spain, Tunisia, France, etc. Even worse, it may not even be from olives altogether! Many mass producers will sometimes adulterate their olive oil with cheaper oils such as hazelnut, sunflower and cotton seed oil in order to increase their profits! Please don't be fooled though! Much of the extra virgin olive oil exported from Italy is surely not what it claims to be.
The way I look at it, this is "legal fraud" and we the consumers are getting fooled and ripped off by these large oil corporations. Let's help put an end to this altogether before all the small quality producers are driven out of business due to the readily available and cheap inferior oils out there.
I'd like to share an very interesting article written a few years back by Tom Mueller called Slippery Business that may shock you. Enjoy.
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