
Olive oil is one of the main ingredients in the Mediterranean diet; lately, olive oil has been one of the trendiest. Olive oil is known worldwide and is known for its health benefits.
Organic Extra virgin olive oil or organic EVOO is largely appreciated for its proven nutritional properties. But let’s face it, are there more fake olive oil than authentic olive oil
Let’s figure out
- How to identify fake vs real olive oil
- Health benefits of organic producers
- Harmful chemicals that seep into food products
- How to report those who abuse customers through false labelling
- Strict regulations must be followed to be considered absolutely 100% pure olive oil.
How is high-quality extra virgin olive oil defined?
Compounds found in plants that give food its nutrients such as making it antioxidant, and anticancer are called Polyphenols, based on the amount found, and the quality determines high-quality extra virgin olive oil, etc. When considering polyphenols we must consider quality based on the olive ripeness, the technological production process, and storage conditions.
The most important changes in the polyphenol content occur during the crushing, malaxation of olives, storage, and filtration of EVOO use of organic and conventional growing systems. Organic foods are considered to be more nutritional and clean, and considered better for consumption as a result the market for organic foods has grown exponentially
Studies show the polyphenol properties in organic olives are almost 2 times better than conventional olives. Just like Polyphenol is an important compound so is flavonoids. Flavonoids such as luteolin have antioxidants and anticancer benefits the olive variety, geographical area, season, environmental conditions, and cultivation method which also enhances better taste depend considerably on these strict requirements.

Chemical fertilizers and agricultural practices
As of 2016 over 178 countries started doing organic farming despite the high cost and low productivity rate. Two main differences between organic agriculture and Conventional farming practices are soil fertility management and practices. Organic farming has organic ingredients they have no chemical pest control methods and no mineral fertilizers are allowed. This helps with the nutritional composition of plants.
Conventional farming practices use fertilizers containing soluble inorganic nitrogen and other nutrients. Synthetic fertilizers make olives to grow faster and larger. As we all know by now, synthetic pesticides can cause health problems such as heart disease, damage to plants, soil erosion, and more. Organic farmers must use practices that prevent soil erosion and maintain the soil’s organic matter and soil quality. Organic farming can take the place of conventional farming since organic farming is more beneficial to humans and the soil.
Some conventional pesticides are harmful, farmers need special protective gear to use them, Some of these include
- chlopyriphos,
- chlopyriphos-methyl,
- methamidophos
- acephate,
- iprodione
- procymidone and chlorothalonil
- and two groups of pesticides (benomyl group and maneb group, i.e. dithiocarbamates)
These pesticides are used on fruits, vegetables, and plants and can leave a significant amount of residue that is harmful to humans. This level of toxicity should not be allowed in the food industry.
THE REFINING PROCESS
Now the USDA has implemented strict organic standards requiring the production processes to remain at the highest quality to be considered organic food. There are three tools used in making pure olive oil
A hammer mill, a thermobeater, and a pulp centrifuge. The olive fruits were milled using a stainless-steel hammer mill equipped with a sieve that was operated at 3000 rpm. The resulting olive paste was immediately kneaded in a mixer for 30 min at 30 °C, with hot water added at 20 min. Centrifugation of the kneaded olive paste was performed in a basket centrifuge. After centrifugation, the oil was decanted and stored in amber glass bottles at 4 °C in darkness and without headspace until analysis.
How to identify fake oils
- Product labels can now be extremely misleading, be sure there’s a website that you can check to verify their production process, call USDA, or check agriculture.gov to find certifiers they use.
- Look for an organic seal, the product must be certified organic olive oil,
- Production must follow organic production practices which can be found below or check agriculture.gov
- Oils should be free of heavy metals
- free of synthetic fertilizers
- Follow the required organic farming experiences
Certification labels and steps to take
According to government guidelines, there are 6 steps you must first take in the United States
- The producer or handler adopts organic practices, discontinues the use of prohibited substances, and maintains these new management strategies for three years. Alternatively, if the producer or handler can prove that prohibited substances have not been used in their operation for the past three years, they may be able to move past this step without the three-year wait.
- Develop an Organic System Plan (OSP). This plan is the foundation of the organic certification process. It should explain how the operation will comply with USDA organic regulations.
- Submit the OSP with the application package for review by a USDA-accredited certifying agent.
- After the OSP is reviewed by a Certifier, the producer or handler will request an inspection of the farm/processing operation. Every operation that applies for organic certification is inspected on-site by an organic inspector. The inspector assesses the risk of contamination from prohibited materials, and may also take soil, tissue or product samples.
- After the on-site inspection, a certifying agent will review the inspection report. The inspector presents his or her findings and observations of practices on the farm or facility as they compare to the organic system plan.
- Upon review of the inspection report, the certifying agent will issue an organic certificate that names products that can be sold as organic by that operation. If the inspection reveals areas of noncompliance, the certifier will issue a “notice of noncompliance” and outline areas that need to be addressed before the organic certificate can be issued.
Recommended government organic certifiers
Baystate Organic Certifiers (BOC)
CCOF Certification Services, LLC (CCOF)
Ecocert ICO, LLC (ECO ICO)
Global Organic Alliance, Inc (GOA)
International Certification Services, Inc (ICS)
Midwest Organic Services Association, Inc. (MOSA)
Natural Food Certifiers (NFC)
Nature’s International Certification Services (NICS)
New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA)
NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC (NOFA-NY)
Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA)
OneCert, Inc. (ONE)
Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO)
Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA)
Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO)
Primus Auditing Operations (formerly Primus Labs) (PAO)
Pro-Cert Organic Systems, Ltd. (PRO)
Quality Assurance International (QAI)
Quality Certification Services (QCS)
SCS Global Services, Inc. (SCS)
Recommendations
Where you choose to buy olive oil is based on personal preferences. Most people will shop at a grocery store, farmers market, or even a herbal store.
Take extra care to choose oils that are of high quality and are proven by who certifies them, how olives were harvested, and the soil health. These things can be found usually at the back or front of the label. If this is not clearly written, check their website for a quick overview. Check to see if they follow organic strict regulations
References
López-Yerena A, Lozano-Castellón J, Olmo-Cunillera A, Tresserra-Rimbau A, Quifer-Rada P, Jiménez B, Pérez M, Vallverdú-Queralt A. Effects of Organic and Conventional Growing Systems on the Phenolic Profile of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Molecules. 2019 May 23;24(10):1986. doi: 10.3390/molecules24101986. PMID: 31126122; PMCID: PMC6572524.
Damalas CA, Koutroubas SD. Farmers’ Exposure to Pesticides: Toxicity Types and Ways of Prevention. Toxics. 2016 Jan 8;4(1):1. doi: 10.3390/toxics4010001. PMID: 29051407; PMCID: PMC5606636.
Aktar MW, Sengupta D, Chowdhury A. Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2009 Mar;2(1):1-12. doi: 10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7. PMID: 21217838; PMCID: PMC2984095.