Olive Oil and Frying

Many of us have wondered what happens when olive oil is used for frying.  In general, when cooking with an oil (any oil, not just olive oil), you should avoid heating it higher than the oil’s smoke point.  In terms of olive oil, the ‘smoking point’ is the temperature at which the olive oil begins to chemically break down to glycerol and free fatty acids, yielding an unpleasant smell and taste and generally losing most of its health benefits. 

Olive oil’s smoke point varies from oil to oil.  Average smoke point temperatures of excellent olive oils are at approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit as poorer olive oils break down at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Higher quality extra virgin olive oils are known to have higher smoking points.  Widely mass produced olive oils generally have lower smoking points and are therefore more ideal to cook (particularly fry) with rather than simply consume in a salad or as a dipping oil. 

As an olive oil’s chemical composition begins to break down when it is heated to smoke point temperatures, natural antioxidants found in the oil decrease, drastically lessening its health benefits.  Smoke point marks the start of flavor and nutritional benefits degradation.  Although studies have shown that frying with extra virgin olive oil is not harmful to your health, it is not suggested to do so.  Try using a cheaper olive oil alternative for your frying needs and reserve your best extra virgins for dips, dressings, drizzles and marinades.

 

Myth:  Frying extra virgin olive oil causes cancer.

Heating extra virgin olive oil past its smoke point will NOT cause cancer, however is not recommended since it is a premium quality olive oil that should be enjoyed as is.  Although overheating extra virgin olive oil won’t cause cancer when consumed, repeatedly burning the same oil to its smoke point can begin to form cancer causing substances.   This is not a concern to the olive oil experts because seldom would someone heat and reuse an oil that has been burnt, having a fowl taste!

Olive Oil Grades Revealed

“Extra Virgin” olive oil is the most desirable olive oil in the world and accounts for less than 10% of oil produced in most countries.  Free acidity of the oil, which is expressed in oleic acid, must be less than 0.8 grams per 100 grams (0.8%) and have no taste and aroma defects.  

“Virgin” olive oil is defined as having a free acidity content of less than 2.0%.  This quality oil is one notch lower than that of extra virgin.

The following olive oil grades fall well beneath the “virgin olive oil” category.

Pomace Oil

Pomace oil is the most inferior olive oil on the market.   This type of oil is made from the remaining pulp, flesh and pits of olives, after they have been pressed.  To help extract more oil from what is left over after the first press, the contents must be mixed with industrial solvents.  This technique is used in the production of oils such as sunflower seed, canola and corn.

Pure Olive Oil

Words can be very deceiving, especially in the marketing of food! 

Pure olive oil (a term becoming more obsolete these days) is a chemically altered olive oil that was initially obtained from inferior quality oil that is almost always too acidic after the extraction phase.  Lower quality (and sometimes defective) olive oils are generally not discarded but rather refined for purposes of human consumption. 

In olive oil, the term “refined” means that the oil must undergo a chemical change using heat, which alters the olive oil’s overall state.  Unfortunately, after the refining process, olive oils are stripped of most of their antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and health benefits.  Refined oils generally lack taste, odor and color.

Olive Oil

Olive oil refers to a blend of both refined olive oil and virgin olive oil.  Producers of this caliber of oil will create their blend using more or less virgin oil to achieve various tastes at various price ranges.  In the U.S., olives oils labeled as “Light” or “Extra Light” fall in this bucket and are typically mixed with a large amount of refined oil.

Massive Olive Oil Producers Are Flooding the U.S. Market!

Have you ever strolled down the oil aisle at your local supermarket and wondered why there is such a large price disparity from one extra virgin olive oil to another?  You may have noticed that the more affordable imported extra virgin olive oils sold by Colavita, Bertolli, Filippo Berio, etc.  As a skeptic, I've always questioned things when they seem "too good to be true".  I'm a New Yorker and so this may be a big part of the reason why I think this way. 

Could an oil claiming to be "extra virgin" really be this cheap? 

After doing some research as well as producing my own oil in Greece, I've come to the conclusion that making and importing authentic and delicious olive oil is certainly very costly to do.  Unfortunately, there is no regulatory body in the United States that enforces standards when selling extra virgin olive oil to consumers.  This creates a breeding ground for fraudsters to take advantage of the U.S. market and in turn discourages authentic private label olive oil producers and worse yet, forces them out of business! 

As mentioned in a prior blog post I had written, roughly 75% of imported extra virgin olive oils failed to meet International Olive Council (IOC) and USDA standards tests!  This means that they failed at least one of the requirements that currently deem an olive oil "extra virgin" such as having defective flavors such as rancidity and mustiness or have been adulterated with cheaper and inferior oils or were produced from poor quality olives that may have been overripe, bruised, damaged and/or stored improperly. 

UC Davis and the Australian Oils Research Laboratory recently conducted a study on this very topic and found that "69% of imported olive oil samples and 10% of California olive oil samples labeled as extra virgin olive oil failed to meet the IOC/USDA sensory (organoleptic) standards for extra virgin olive oil." UC Davis Olive Center, July 2010 

Fortunately we can help put an end to this "legal" consumer fraud that is happening right under our noses every single day.  In order for us to make a difference and ensure that we are getting the best olive oil our Earth has to offer, please support the authentic family owned growers/producers!  By educating ourselves further and even paying just a little more we can be rest assured that what we are buying the real deal.

For more information on this topic, which in my opinion is unknown to many of us, I highly recommend you pick up "Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil" by Tom Mueller.  It's a very informative book (also an easy read) that sheds alot of  light on the olive oil industry and how it came to be over the years.