Why does the forgery of olive oil occur frequently? And how to choose really delicious olive oil?

by stevepb

It was news in 2016 that 85 thousand tons of olive oil covered with copper sulfate used for insecticide for coloring was seized by the Italian police. Such counterfeited olive oil is also sold in Japan, and trust in the olive oil industry has been decreasing in recent years. Dave Gershgorn , a reporter of the news media ' Quartz ', summarizes why the olive oil industry is liable to be fraudulent and how to choose delicious olive oil.

Olive oil can be a scam. How to buy extra-virgin olive oil - Quartzy
https://qz.com/quartzy/1373867/olive-oil-can-be-a-scam-make-sure-youre-getting-the-good-stuff/

The label of olive oil displayed on the supermarket is decorated with various characters such as "extra virgin" "virgin" "pure" "cold press" "made in Italy" "made in Greece". In this way, the industry recognizes that the words related to olive oil are complicated and dogmatic, Pierluigi Tosato, CEO of Spain's olive oil maker " Deoleo " also said, "Consumers are not trusting the products anymore , Consumption of olive oil is decreasing because I can not be confident. "" The business of olive oil has been destroyed and we have to change, "he says.

Besides the problem of packaging, deception and fraud have been spreading to the olive oil industry for a long time in manufacturing, importing and exporting. Italian police have caught the fact that several years older oil makers have revealed wrongdoing and in 2017 low quality olive oil was sold as "the highest quality extra virgin oil". It is said that the scale of illegal agriculture in Italy has reached 17 billion dollars (about 1.9 trillion yen).

◆ How does olive oil originally be made in the first place?

by Nazar Hrabovyi

One reason why fraud occurs in the production of olive oil is the difficulty of making olive oil. Olive oil must be crushed finely and pressed as soon as possible after harvesting olives, but at the same time work must be done very gently. This is because if the flesh temperature rises due to friction, the flavor is impaired. It is actually difficult to label the label with a " cold press " that keeps the cost of work below 27 degrees.

After crushing the fruit, it is divided into oil and pulp by squeezing out by applying pressure or applying it to a centrifugal separator. Later, most of the olive oil consumed in large quantities will be filtered by the sediment.

◆ What is the meaning of complicated olive oil term?

by Roberta Sorge

Words such as extra virgin, virgin, pure have similar sounds, but in fact the meaning is quite different.

According to the International Olive Association (IOC) standard, virgin olive oil can be divided into four types depending on the fatty acid level. The fatty acid level of olive oil is related to the state at the time the olive is crushed, and if you use olive or old olive with damage, too high temperature of processing will be olive containing a lot of oleic acid , Will be lower.

When olives are crushed, flies change when flies larvae are mixed, but this is also judged by experts actually tasting.

" Extra virgin " means that the fatty acid is 0.8% or less and there is no disadvantage in taste. Extra virgin is not processed using chemical substances but it is made only by a method of physically pulverizing and squeezing using a machine. The next grade of extra virgin is " virgin " which contains 0.8 to 2% of fatty acid and sometimes has disadvantages in taste, normal olive oil which is not virgin contains 2 to 3.3% fatty acid. This olive oil is sometimes named " pure olive oil ", but the term "pure" is a term of marketing so it has no scientific significance.

Also, the name of olive oil " Lampante virgin oil" comes from the word "kerosene" in Italian. Lampante virgin oil contains more than 3.3% fatty acids and can not be consumed under the IOC regulation, so it will be a raw material for refined olive oil and industrial oil.

◆ Method of tasting

by ulleo

Together with wine and coffee, there are also ways to taste olive oil. Nicholas Coleman, founder of Grove and Vine, a service that can receive a variety of olive oil from the world and also an "oleo logist" who conducts olive oil research, says about how to taste olive oil.

1. Put a small amount of olive oil in a small cup or shot glass, place one hand under the glass and the other hand on the glass and turn the glass. With this method, you can warm the oil with the hand below and you can lock the scent with the top hand.

2. I will sniff the oil aroma.

3. Move the glass close to the mouth, make a sound and suck the oil. By eating with a mouth like when pronouncing "ee" it is possible for oil to spread over the spray in the mouth and to coat the inside of the mouth with oil.

Four. Open mouth and suck up suddenly, coating not only the mouth but also the throat with oil.

Five. If you taste in this state, you will find that the olive oil harvested early is tangy and bitter. Olive oil harvested in the late period has a smooth buttery flavor. Olive oil sometimes has a taste like grass that stands out, but the taste like mud, hay, plastic is not to be said that it should be.

◆ How can I get good quality olive oil?

by Jessica Lewis

The contents to pay attention to when purchasing olive oil are as follows.

· Check the harvest time or expiration date. It is only one year since olive oil was eaten.

· Check if the olive production area is written on the label and what kind the product is.

· Those labeled "Import" on the label are imported for cost reduction and imported from Italy, so it is necessary to pay attention because it sometimes lifts the price. However, it is said that such practices have decreased as a result of class actions.

· The color of olive oil is not related to taste. If you use transparent glass, oil will oxidize with light, so choose bottles of dark brown glass.

· Olive oil is the same as wine. For oils with strong taste such as red meat, pick oil with rich flavor, and select delicately flavored oil for fish, cheese, hams and other dishes.