What is adulterated olive oil and how widespread is its circulation in the super market?
Often it is a mixture of 2 oils, extra virgin olive oil and usually sunflower oil. This type of adulteration can be classified as extra virgin olive oil by some brands in the olive oil market. It can be further degraded when mixed with various olive oils of dubious quality from different countries around Europe, Middle East or North Africa. In the worst case, it is a mixture of soybean and sunflower oil, to which chlorophyll and beta-carotene substances are added. You should be especially careful when checking the labels of these oils.
How can I tell if an olive oil is adulterated? Are there simple methods that can help to identify a bad olive oil?
This is the most important question. How can we know if the olive oil we buy is adulterated? Here are some useful tips.
Put it in the fridge
You can do this simple test at home. Put olive oil in the fridge at a low temperature, if it starts to solidify and form clumps, it means it has a high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids. This trick does not fully ensure that the olive oil is not adulterated, because if it has been mixed with sunflower oil and other similar oils it will have the same behaviour. On the other hand, if the oil in the fridge is kept in its liquid state, this will definitely mean that it is not extra virgin olive oil.
Light an oil lamp
A second test you can do is with an oil lamp or a candle. In this case, wait for the genuine olive oil to keep the wick lit for a longer period of time without smoke showing above the flame. If the lamp or wick stays lit for a short period of time or if it leaves smoke while burning, it will mean that it is definitely not extra virgin olive oil.
Buy it directly from the farmer or a trusted source with direct connection with farmers
If you know and trust the olive oil producer (like me and my family) then you are lucky. You can buy your extra virgin olive oil from a direct source. I recommend you buying from the producers directly because almost all of the adulteration problem happens through middlemen, those who buy olive oil in bulk from individual farmers. It can then be commingled with other oils, packaged and sold on the market.
Make sure that you do not buy olive oil in transparent bottles
Choose always dark glass bottles that protect the oil from light in order to maintain its quality and not oxidize. Never buy olive is that is more than two years old.
For this little article I used information from the website proionta tis fisis
You can always write me your questions. I will response to you as soon as possible