The olive oil conspiracy (dyed canola being sold as olive) - Page 2

[hipmummy]

I REGRIGERATE MINE SO i gues i would know if mine was bad. i have purchased the kalamata one before. i can taste the dif when it is a garbage one verses the good stuff.

[Ruthla]

Refrigerating olive oil won't affect the taste or the texture after it's warmed up- it obviously will affect the texture while it's still cold since it solidifies.

Is there a list of safe brands of olive oil someplace?

[*Robin*]

Originally Posted by CathMac

robinlaroy,
It's a good thing you didn't open the bottle, so there is no question as to whether it was tampered with post production.

I wouldn't merely return it to Trader Joe's, my guess is they've got a pretty good return policy (especially where it's unopened) and they may simply take it back without doing anything about it unless you make sure management gets involved. I would call the store, ask for the name of the manager and possibly even the district manager and so on up the line. Then I would write to the manager but cc everybody else to make sure they are informed, that way you aren't relying on the manager to do it.

I would also be careful about how you word it so as not to unnecessarily offend anyone. I would approach it from a quality control perspective, and perhaps mention the article but I would be careful about jumping in and calling the olive oil in question "counterfeit". You wouldn't want to be accused of libel or slander.

You need to be especially careful when you put anything in writing.
~Cath

Thank you. You are absolutely right. I don't actually know it's fake. I just know the bottle is still as clear as when we put it in. I'll post when we receive a response from Trader Joe's or the Better Business Bureau.

[mags.bubble]

So, I tested my oils in the fridge overnight last night. Yesterday was the first I had heard about counterfeit olive oil.

Spectrum organic extra virgin olive oil - became cloudy with a little coagulation

Trader Joe pure olive oil - no change
Trader Joe reserve first press evoo - no change

Bertoli extra light evoo - no change

Does this mean that the ones that didn't change are not real olive oil, they smell and taste like olive oil. Although, if it is a mix then it would still taste like olive oil, right?

What brands are reliable? Any suggestions?
Maggie

[subrosa]

Originally Posted by CathMac

robinlaroy,
I would be careful about jumping in and calling the olive oil in question "counterfeit". You wouldn't want to be accused of libel or slander.

You need to be especially careful when you put anything in writing.

A statement or writing has to be "published" in order to be libelous or slanderous--so a private letter to a manager, etc. wouldn't qualify unless you started disseminating it to a bunch of other, unrelated people or the media. but I think CathMac gives good advice about the most effective way to address the issue.

Keep us posted!

[Shazer]

I just put my Whole Foods 365 Pure 100% extra virgin olive oil in the fridge to test. It smells like olive oil and I've noticed in the past that it does get cloudy, but I'll let you know for sure.

I'm absolutely disgusted after reading about the olive oil conspiracy. Who can you trust anymore for quality foods?

[meowee]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Refrigerating olive oil won't affect the taste or the texture after it's warmed up- it obviously will affect the texture while it's still cold since it solidifies.

That's not what the olive oil expert I heard on WNYC said. Olive oil is best stores air tight at room temperature, away from a heat source or sunlight.

[zeldabee]

FWIW, I recently noticed my Trader Joe's olive oil was cloudy in my cabinet. I'm stingy with the heat, and butter left out is firm, coconut oil is hard, and the olive oil cloudy. I could taste the difference if it wasn't EVOO. Pure olive oil, I might not be able to taste.

I don't think that olive oil that had been refrigerated would have an off taste, as long as it wasn't served that way. I cook stuff in olive oil and refrigerate and reheat it without issues.

I'm not surprised that a lot of olive oil is adulterated. I personally knew people who'd been involved in adulterating food (or relabeling food) when I worked in the restaurant business in NYC. It's very easy to do, and very profitable.

I too would like to see a list of olive oil brands to stay away from.

[kittywitty]

I can usually taste if it's real Olive Oil. But is there a list, like Ruthla asked of brands that are consistently real?

I will test mine today and see. It's an off brand, though.

[BoringTales]

I didn't know what the difference was between Olive oil, Virgin Olive oil, and extra-virgin olive oil was so I wikied it. I know its not a great source, but this part of the article was interesting...

Retail grades in the United States

Most of the governments in the world are members of the International Olive Oil Council, which requires member governments to promulgate laws making olive oil labels conform to the IOOC standards.

The United States is the only major oil-producing or oil-consuming country which is not a member of the IOOC, and therefore, the retail grades listed above have no legal meaning in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which controls this aspect of labeling, currently lists four grades of olive oil: "Fancy", "Choice", "Standard", and "Substandard". These were established in 1948. [6] The grades are based on acidity, absence of defects, odor and flavor. While the USDA is considering adopting labeling rules that parallel the international standards, until they do so, terms such as "extra virgin" may be applied to any grade of oil, making the term of dubious usefulness.

So are they basically saying that it doesn't matter if its labeled extra-virgin here in the US because that's probably not what we are getting? Or if it is imported EVoo, those labeling standards *should* still be true, right?

[mags.bubble]

I just took good 45 minutes discussing this topic with the olive oil store owner in my downtown area. Before today, I thought this store was a novelty, but now I am impressed and left with a bottle of olive oil from australia and balsamic.

A few things to note:
He ofcourse told me to read labels, that cold pressed doesn't mean anything really. According to labeling it can be heated while extracted up to 87degrees and still be labeled cold. He also said the label needs to read 100% olive oil or it may just meet the minimum percentage. He also said to read the ingredients. He showed me a bottle of specialty balsamic sold in the regular stores that the first ingredient was redwine vinegar.

He said the refrigerator test is a good one, but it give it 3 days to thicken or coagulate. 24 hours is not enough. He bakes with evoo or nut oils based on the baked good. He does make cookies etc.. with evoo. He said if a recipe calls for 1 cup butter you can sub with 2/3c evoo. He uses evoo for cooking and baking, but uses peanut oil for frying.

Lucky for me his prices are comparible with the top shelf olive oil at the regular storesfoods. He knows his distributors and visitis the olive growers. So, at this point I am babbling. I learned some basics info, but like wine I am afraid I will never be truly that knowledgable. I did like what I tasted today, and it was MUCH better that what I have had in the past.

I will let you know what my bottles of oil do in the fridge after the next few days. I would be interested in compiling a list with the rest of you folks.
Maggie

[LionTigerBear]

The olive oil we get is from Middle Earth Organics, from our local HFS, and I highly recommend it. I know it's the real thing. It tastes so rich and yummy. It's a bit pricey though, I try to wait until it goes on sale.

[CathMac]

Originally Posted by subrosa

A statement or writing has to be "published" in order to be libelous or slanderous--so a private letter to a manager, etc. wouldn't qualify unless you started disseminating it to a bunch of other, unrelated people or the media. but I think CathMac gives good advice about the most effective way to address the issue.

Keep us posted!

subrosa,
Thank you for the correction. I should know better. I mixed in the principles of effective business communication with the legal concept of libel (not to be confused with slander which is oral, not written).

Perhaps the more important point is to be careful anytime you say anything in a forum like this, which would be "disseminating it to a bunch of other, unrelated people". And since it is too simple to copy/paste one's own words it probably makes good sense to watch what you say before you even reach the point of quoting yourself online.

That isn't to say that you can't question whether or not you got what you paid for if you have reason to believe that you did not (as in this case, where the "olive oil" didn't coagulate when refrigerated), but that in the absence of concrete reason to believe the product was intentionally counterfeited or adulterated that you may want to allow for the possibility of mis-labelling.
~Cath

[dannic]

This is insane! I usually get the wf 365, but got some at costco and trader joes. I'll stick the unopened tj in the fridge (I have a star brand as well--I know, I know...). All we use is oo (we are diary intolerant) and I am gonna be super upset...what brands can be trusted????:

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/f...html#offenders

found this...

[mags.bubble]

Good morning,

Day 2 of oo in the fridge:
Bertoli - no change
Trader Joe's pure olive oil - starting to thicken a little, but I have to really look.
Spectrum organic evoo - coagulated just fine - passed the test

Maggie

[Poddi]

I stuck my bottle of extra virgin olive oil in the fridge for a couple days. It turned into completely solid green stuff. Does it mean it's OK then? The brand is called "Val TorrE". I've never heard of that before, but then I rarely pay attention to the brand of my cooking oil. I just finished the Bertoli EVOO so I can't test that now.

Please post your results with the Costco olive oil. I was thinking of trying some after we finish this bottle.

*A few other kind of cooking oil will thicken when chilled as well, like avocado oil. How do you tell those apart?

[sevenkids]

I probably know more about Italian olive oils than I should, I work for an Italian agriturismo and we specialize in culinary and cultural immersion tours that visit frantoio's and wineries.
The vast majority of olive oil exported from Italy (and Spain, Tunisia, and Greece) is a blend, each olive tree produces very little oil, only about a liter per tree. And that oil is very, very expensive. Olives are harvested once a year, in late October/early November, and the pure oil is only good, if kept in a dark place at 65 degrees or less, for one year. Each olive is hand picked, any olives that hit the ground are bruised and cannot be used or it throws the whole batch off. Then the olives must be hand cleaned, removing twigs and leaves, washed in cold water, pressed between granite stones slowly so the friction doesn't generate any heat, placed on straw mats and the oil drained, and bottled within 24 hours or they go rancid. Italians don't use olive oil for cooking, only as a condiment to season already cooked food or to flavor foods like bruschetta, panzanella, or make an olivada. The oil Italians use for cooking is sunflower.

Oils that can be designated extra virgin in the US cannot be designated extra virgin in Italy which has strict government laws about quality control. Only oils that are hand-picked, traditionally pressed, from the first pressing, have no chemicals added during the processing, and of an acidity of less than 1% can be designated extra virgin. But oils for sale in the US have much lower standards, it can be as much as 70% of other oils!

I have searched high and low, and with an unlimited company budget, for real DOP extra-virgin olive oil imported from Italy, and basically, gave up. You just can't get it here unless you know someone who goes to Italy and can bring you back some. (and, OMG if you ever taste it, your eyes will roll into the back of your head with ecstacy!) The best you can get is a better quality blend.

[mags.bubble]

sevenkids - everything you said is what the olive oil store owner said to me. I just couldn't have possibly restated it as well as you just did. I am just not knowledgable on the subject and would hate to give out the wrong info. He said you need to look for an italian certification called D.O.N. (I think that was the initials). I have to say that the tastings I had in his shop were amazing. I am sure going to Italy and tasting what you describe is even more so. Your comment about Italians using sunflower is interesting. This gentleman is an italian immigrant and he said he does use evoo for most everything. He said his mother use to use a 10%evoo blend for cooking because that is what they could afford, so she saved the good stuff for salads and finishing dishes.

I am enjoying this thread. Food is such an interesting topic.

Maggie

[zeldabee]

The Italians I worked with used olive oil for cooking, just not the really good stuff. That they did use as a condiment. They brought it back from their own land in Italy.

[dannic]

Well, darn. This is frustrating. I actually just used the last of the costco....
So can they throw just any oil in with it? I really hate the idea that I'm trying to stay away from unstable oils, so I buy olive, and it's diluted with the very oils I'm trying to stay away from! It all just so disheartening.