Advertisement

Olive oil scandal: Not as virginal as it may seem

olives, figs, olive oil
olives, figs, olive oil

Your salad dressing might be a fraud.

Yes, the world of olive oil is slightly scandalous.

"It's hard and expensive to make really good olive oil," Tom Mueller, author of the new book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, told The Toronto Star.

Olive oil is a $1.5 billion industry — and some manufacturers are cutting corners or downright lying about their product to drive down prices to "impossible" levels. Meaning that extra virgin olive oil in your kitchen might be a fake.

"Consumers don't benefit; they're being ripped off, and honest producers are being undercut unfairly because a substandard product, which costs a lot less, is being sold under the same label as their good oil," Mueller said.

In fact, one study found that a whopping 69 per cent of imported extra virgin olive oil to the United States failed to meet the international standards for that "extra virgin" classification.

"Right now the extra virgin bar is pretty low," Mueller said. "You'll note that that doesn't mean it has to be good, it just has to be not bad. And nevertheless, a lot of producers aren't hitting this bar."

[See also: Why you shouldn't cook with olive oil]

Mueller says that many of the low-grade oils, particularly those from Spain, have been processed to remove impurities or other oils and often contain "sensory flaws," which include fermentation, mould and rancidity.

"Extra virgin" dictates that the oil be removed from the olive using chemistry- and heat-free mechanical or physical processes.

A new EU regulation on marketing standards for olive oil came into effect earlier this month. Oils' designation of origin is now compulsory for all virgin and extra virgin oils. Blended oils must be labeled as such.

With frauds filling grocery store shelves, oil experts are urging us to get acquainted with quality:

"The best thing is for the consumer to taste the difference," said Dan Flynn, president of the Olive Center in the University of California at Davis.

"If they have the opportunity to taste a bona fide good oil from a trusted vendor and compare that to something in their kitchen, then people can understand their difference."

Teresa Kuhn, of Olive Oil Merchant in Vancouver, agrees:

"The level of understanding of olive oils in Canada is very, very low. It's like our understanding of wine some 20, 30 years ago and yet, Canada is the fifth largest importer of olive oil. It blows my mind that people will spend $40 on a bottle of wine or spend extra for organic produce but won't spend $20 for olive oil. People have gotten used to poor quality."

Not sure where to begin when shopping for oil? Mueller lists what to look for in an oil — and which reputable producers are safe bets — on his website, extravirginity.com.

You can also see Chow Ciao's own chef Fabio Viviani shares his tips for picking the best olive oil in the video below.

More from Shine on Yahoo! Canada

5 foods for a healthy heart
The best oils for cooking
Unexpected uses for olive oil