extra virgin olive oil

the reason for this post:
2/3 of the extra virgin olive oile sold in the US is fraudulent.
it's more processed than extra virgin standards allow, and/or mixed w/ other oils, diluting the quality, health benefits, taste, and lowering the smoke point.

google real extra virgin olive oil for all the recent press, from npr, to la times and ny times, 2 major research studies, this guy's research and book.



the US is not a member of the int'l olive oil council, so there's no regulation on using the extra virgin label, which otherwise is a certified status, based on things like cold pressing, acidity, actually being from olives instead of soy beans, etc.

if it ain't real evoo, you're paying too much for it, it won't taste good, and it'll smoke and be carcinogenic at a lower temperature. a real good evoo has a smoke point ranging from 375F to 405F.

to find legit evoo...
i had doubts on whole foods, but this is promising:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/faq/olive-oil-faq.php

i prefer 4th street food coop, they have good stuff from lebanon and palestine. the lebanese one is totally affordable.

otherwise, you'd have to trust what you read on the bottle's label and/or website.

other info:
spain, italy, and greece are the largest producers of olive oil, in that order.
but 80% of what comes from greece is extra virgin quality,
only 45% from italy is extra virgin, and only 30% from spain is extra virgin.
italy is also the world's largest importer of olive oil, which they bottle & label as italian olive oil.
the US is the 2nd largest consumer of olive oil, with italy as its largest supplier.

they investigate this stuff in europe, cause it's a huge multimillion dollar (guestimate) scam.
i imagine there's good stuff made in california, but pricey.
georgia state is working on some east coast olive growing and oil producing.
maybe texas and new mexico as well.

real evoo is one of the best choices for cooking and eating.
organic goes without saying.