What Sets Extra Virgin Olive Oil Apart from the Rest? (II)

In the first part of this article we explored the differences between natural and refined olive oil, as well as the various blends produced during manufacturing. In this article, we'll look at the differences between Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil, and plain Olive Oil. As we saw in the first article, this classification applies only to olive oil that has not been refined — meaning it has not been treated with heat or chemicals.

The International Olive Council

There is an international body created specifically to establish the criteria that define every oil derived from olives. That body is the INTERNATIONAL OLIVE COUNCIL, or IOC. This institution is "the only intergovernmental organization in the world bringing together the producers and consumers of olive oil and table olives." Its authority and standards are internationally recognized. The IOC publishes and maintains a document called the "TRADE STANDARD APPLYING TO OLIVE OILS AND OLIVE-POMACE OILS" — a comprehensive document that sets out the rules of the trade. We've summarized the most relevant points for you here. The key piece is the definition of Virgin Olive Oil:

Virgin olive oils are oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decanting, centrifugation and filtration.

In other words, any oil blended with other types of oil can never, by definition, be called a virgin olive oil — it cannot even be called Olive Oil. It should be labelled as Refined Oil, with whatever marketing phrase the seller chooses to add: "derived from olive oils," "obtained solely from the juice of olives," and so on.

Virgin Olive Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Now for the real question: how do you tell an Extra Virgin Olive Oil apart from a Virgin Olive Oil? The honest answer is: you can't. The distinction is based on oil quality, and its defining characteristic is acidity — specifically, oleic acid content. The classification breaks down as follows:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: less than 0.8 grams of oleic acid per 100g.
• Virgin Olive Oil: between 0.8g and 2g of oleic acid per 100g.
• Olive Oil (plain): between 2g and 3.3g per 100g.

Without a laboratory to hand, it's simply impossible to tell — and producers are not required to print this figure on the label. For every Extra Virgin Olive Oil we carry, we have visited the producer, walked through their laboratory, and verified that the necessary controls are in place to guarantee the oil falls below 0.8g/100g. If it doesn't meet that standard, it doesn't make it into our selection ;)

Watch what you buy...

One important clarification: oils with an oleic acid content above 3.3g/100g are not considered fit for human consumption in their raw state — they must be refined first. They're not exactly harmful, but they're not something you should be eating. What's remarkable is that some oils exceeding 3.3g are sold as Olive Oil, simply because they were produced through manual and mechanical processes — using poor-quality olives. In an extensive report published by OCU (Spain's Organization of Consumers and Users), researchers subjected 40 olive oils to laboratory analysis — and 12 of them turned out to be a lower category than stated on the label. That means almost 1 in every 3 bottles you pick up at the supermarket is misrepresented. Disappointing, but true. We can't go bottle by bottle through every supermarket shelf, tasting and testing each one in a lab. What we can do is bring you the very best. Every oil we offer is 5 STARS — certified by a laboratory, confirmed by expert tasters, and above all, backed by your own reviews. If an oil doesn't meet all three of those criteria, it doesn't reach our website ;) Thank you once again for trusting us — and we hope this article, which ended up rather longer than planned, has been useful in making sense of the sometimes confusing world of olive oil ;). Don't hesitate to leave a comment!