Olive oil is great for cooking practically anything, and it makes the food cooked in it more nutritious, too!  A study published in the journal ACTA Scientific Nutritional Health found that extra virgin olive oil is the most stable and safest cooking oil when heated—even at high temperatures often used in frying and baking. In the study, extra virgin olive oil outperformed all other cooking oils, including canola, avocado, peanut and coconut oils.

Smoke point isn’t the best indicator of how a cooking oil will perform when heated, and cooking oils rarely reach their smoke point in home cooking. The Washington Post took on this very issue in an article titled, “What you should know about oil smoke points — and why they’re not as scary as you might think,” which says:

We’ve consistently heard from readers chiding us for recommending roasting food with olive oil in the oven at a temperature above the supposed smoke point…but there’s more at play here…there are plenty of other things to absorb the heat and energy — the pan, the food, the moisture of the meat or vegetables. Water or a sauce with the food can help, too. The oil is not taking the brunt of the heat, and it’s unlikely that the temperature of the oil will equalize to that of the oven itself. If it did, your food would probably be dried out and inedible anyway. 

To demonstrate The Washington Post’s point about olive oil rarely reaching the smoke point, we filmed a video showing an infrared thermometer being used to measure the temperature of food sautéed in extra virgin olive oil. We turned the heat to high on a gas range, and the food never got close to the smoke point. You can check out the video and read the more detailed post here. 

Because olive oil is delicious and can withstand heat, you can use it for everything from dipping and salad dressings to baking, frying, grilling and everywhere in between. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) even includes olive oil on its list of recommended oils to safely fry with.

As a bonus, research has shown that cooking with olive oil actually increases the health benefits of our food. The healthy phenols and antioxidants found in olive oil are transferred to the food it’s cooking, making it more nutritious. Olive oil also helps the food it’s cooking release its own bioactive compounds and improves their absorption.

The idea that U.S. supermarkets are rife with adulterated olive oils is an urban legend. You should have every confidence in the authenticity of the olive oil you buy at the store. A study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whose peer-reviewed research was published in the Journal of American Oil Chemists’ Society, tested 88 extra virgin olive oil samples off the shelves of Washington, D.C.-area retail outlets and found no confirmed adulteration in any of the samples tested. The FDA’s findings mirror the results of the NAOOA's robust monitoring efforts, which sampled an average of close to 200 olive oils annually directly from retail shelves for 20 years.

There’s a reason why we hear about those problems in Europe but not here. American consumers can take comfort in knowing European Union (EU) member states aggressively monitor and control exports of olive oil to the U.S., which is their most important market. They want to protect the integrity of one of their most important agricultural products. Anyone found trying to export adulterated olive oil will end up in jail. And the vigilance has paid off. So, if a bad actor in an EU country wants to play games with olive oil, it’s a lot easier to get away with it if they keep their scheme within the open EU borders.

All olive oil produced in EU member states, which includes more than 80% of the olive oil consumed by Americans, is legally required to undergo risk analysis and is subject to controls to check for authenticity and conformity with labeling rules at every stage of marketing, including before they are exported.

For example, Spain, which produces more than half of the world’s olive oil and is the leading exporter to the United States, takes the following steps:

• All exporting companies must be registered in the EU Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) system to be approved to export goods. To ensure accountability, an entity can’t have more than one EORI number, which helps maintain an accurate export history database to track performance over time.
• Spain has three different points of inspection and analysis:
  • There are 17 autonomous communities that make up Spain, and they each conduct inspections of olive oil in the manufacturing facilities where it’s produced.
  • Spain’s Official Service of Surveillance, Certification and Technical Assistance of Foreign Trade (SOIVRE) samples olive oil to be exported and conducts physico-chemical and sensory testing to ensure authenticity and quality. Olive oil bound for the United States is specifically targeted for additional testing. SOIVRE also checks olive oil to ensure labeling requirements are met.
  • Spanish Customs also collects samples and conducts physico-chemical and sensory testing.

In Italy, the National Agricultural Information System (SIAN) tracks every move olive oil makes in the country, whether it’s imported or produced domestically. This makes olive oil one of Italy’s most verified products. Companies that fail to update the information in SIAN are sanctioned, and every police force across the country has access to the information in the system to aid enforcement against bad actors.

Across the EU, these rigorous processes ensure the integrity of olive oil shipped to the United States – Europe’s most important export market.

Other exporting countries outside of the EU also have stringent requirements. For example, Morocco has a rigorous process for inspecting and monitoring each batch of olive oil intended for export. Olive oil can only be released for export once it’s met the trade standard of the destination market. Morocco also has a network of internationally accredited labs specializing in olive oil analysis, which test for quality and purity.

Consumers are passionate about olive oil, and nothing gets them more riled up than to have someone tell them that their beloved olive oil is fake. And that presents an opportunity for people to make money by preying on people’s passion and fear of being cheated. So, when you see a claim about fake olive oil, ask yourself, did the source actually perform any laboratory tests or offer any proof? Was the story about fake olive oil something that was discovered in the U.S.? Is the person making the claim selling something like a competing product or a scandalous book, or simply trolling for clicks or views on an article that will bring them ad dollars and followers on social media platforms?

As with wine, beer, coffee and other products, there are good, better and best qualities of olive oil to meet every flavor preference and budget. Shop at retailers you trust and buy brands you know. If you want to try a new brand, as with anything you buy, beware of prices that are too good to be true, and always taste the olive oil as soon as you bring it home. If you don’t like it, take it back to the store where you bought it for a refund or exchange it for something you like.

To be clear, adulteration and mislabeling are separate issues. You should have every confidence that your olive oil isn’t adulterated, which means mixed with other types of oil. When a bottle labeled extra virgin (the best quality) is found not to live up to that designation, that’s a more complex subject. There are a few reasons for this:

• The quality of olive oil changes over time and when it’s exposed to light, heat and air. These changes can be outside the producer’s control, as they can take place with the retailer or the consumer.  
• Taste – which is a key factor in determining the extra virgin grade – is a subjective determination when done by a single taster. For that reason, official grading requires a panel of at least eight expertly trained and calibrated tasters following strict protocols to minimize the impact of subjectivity. Often, sensational journalists claim a bottle of oil is mislabeled without following this protocol and, as a result, many times these claims are unsubstantiated, misleading and overblown.   

For consumers wanting to make sure they get the highest-quality olive oil:  

• Look for quality seals like the NAOOA Certified Seal or Extra Virgin Alliance seal, which ensures the olive oil meets rigorous standards.

• At the store, look for oils in dark or opaque containers, and check the best-by date to make sure you’ve got time to use it. 
• Taste the oil! If it doesn’t taste right, you can take it back to the store. Over time, the more you taste, the more you start to understand what olive oils you like. And, as a general rule, the more flavor, the more health benefits. 
• When you get home, store the oil in a cool, dark place with the lid on tightly, and once opened, use within 2-3 months.

Absolutely! While extra virgin olive oil may have the most flavor and health benefits thanks to its higher polyphenol and antioxidant count, all olive oil, refined or virgin, has the same high content of monounsaturated “good fat,” which is recognized by the FDA as a great choice for heart health. Even the most passionate EVOO user may at times prefer for taste or budget reasons to use a neutral-tasting oil, depending on the dish they are preparing. In that case, regular and light-tasting olive oils are excellent choices because when compared to the most commonly purchased types of neutral-tasting oils (canola, soybean, corn), olive oils are the least processed (i.e., not extracted with chemical solvents), have the healthiest fatty acid profile, and are enriched with virgin olive oil, which means they also contain healthy olive polyphenols – not nearly as much as in extra virgin olive oil, but more than other cooking oil alternatives which have none.  

Even within the extra virgin category there are different qualities, and all may have appropriate uses, depending on your taste preferences and budget. For raw use (like dipping), to finish dishes, or as a condiment, you want the best quality of extra virgin olive oil you can afford. There are many great options in this category, including those in the NAOOA’s Extra Virgin Alliance. When choosing extra virgin olive oil for everyday cooking, you may prefer a less expensive one, since some of the flavor mellows when heated (a full list of NAOOA member brands can be found on our website).

(It’s important to note that consumer research clearly shows that when consumers who were accustomed to using other neutral-flavored, solvent-extracted seed oils like canola, vegetable, corn, soy, etc., switched to regular or light-tasting olive oil, they not only kept using olive oil, but they were also likely to soon graduate to using healthier extra virgin olive oil, as well.)

Olives are harvested once a year, and the oil is extracted mechanically. The best tasting oil that meets strict quality parameters can be sold as extra virgin olive oil. Oils that don’t meet this high standard can be refined through a process that removes flavor and color. The refining process for olive oil is generally like the process that all the common neutral-flavored seed oils like canola and vegetable oil undergo (Note, although chemical solvents like hexane may be used in extracting seed oils, solvents are not used in the refining process and are never used to extract olive oil.) 

You won’t find 100% refined olive oil for sale to consumers. The two commonly sold types of olive oil that are made with refined olive oil, regular and light-tasting, are enriched with virgin olive oils to give them flavor and color, so they do contain some naturally occurring antioxidants and olive polyphenols (although less than you would find in extra virgin olive oil). This gives these refined olive oil products an advantage over seed oils that don’t have such enrichment.

The words “virgin” or “unrefined” are key terms for consumers to look for on cooking oil labels. If the label doesn’t say one of these terms, then the oil has been refined, or in the case of products labeled simply “olive oil,” the oil is a combination of refined and virgin olive oil. When it comes to health benefits, the naturally occurring antioxidants and polyphenols in virgin oils are destroyed by the refining process, but the fatty acid profile (see “Cooking Oil Fat Profiles” chart below) is preserved whether the oil is virgin or refined. If a neutral tasting oil is called for, then refined oils are ideal. For example, in some cases, like making a mayonnaise, a flavorless neutral oil may be important to the recipe. But in many cases, a recipe may indicate a neutral oil due to force of habit when a virgin oil with healthier attributes can be an excellent substitute that functions perfectly well. For example, in many strongly flavored sauces and marinades, a virgin oil will perform as well as a refined oil and may even enhance the flavors in a recipe.

The chart below provides an overview of the main differences among cooking oils:

Dietary fats are divided into three principal types of fatty acids: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated. Of the most commonly used cooking oils, olive oil has the highest percentage of monounsaturated fat. It’s for this reason that olive oil has been recognized by the FDA as a great choice for heart health. All grades of olive oil have the same amount of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

Grams per 1 tablespoon serving
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central

Color is not a reliable indicator of olive oil flavor or quality. Extra virgin olive oil can range in color from yellow to dark green, depending on variables like the olive variety, where it’s grown, climate and harvest timing. Some yellow extra virgin olive oils can be more robust than others that are dark green. So, when it comes to extra virgin olive oil, it’s better to taste it and see if you like it! Regular or light-tasting olive oil, however, will typically be pale yellow depending on the amount of virgin oil that is used to enrich the product.

A harvest date will tell you when an olive oil was produced (although not necessarily when it was bottled). However, many olive oils don’t have a harvest date because the bottle may contain a blend of olive oils from olives that were harvested from different farms, regions, countries or even continents, all with different harvest dates. This blending is done to provide a consistent flavor profile and price point. While it’s fine to check out a harvest date when available, “Best if used by” dates, particularly from reputable producers, provide more information because they account for several factors (not just harvest dates) to determine how long the olive oil should last under good storage conditions. You can read more about harvest dates and “best by” dates here.

It may surprise you, but the answer is no! That’s because all extra virgin olive oil is, by definition, “first cold-pressed.” The phrase “first cold-pressed” may distinguish extra virgin olive oil from seed oils (e.g., canola, vegetable, corn, soy, etc.) that are extracted with high heat and/or chemical solvents, but it can’t be used to distinguish one extra virgin olive oil from another. Extra virgin olive oil is produced at temperatures below 80.6°F, which is “cold” compared to high-heat extraction. Similarly, with all extra virgin olive oils, there’s only one extraction (“pressing”), so the word “first” is redundant. Olive oils produced at higher temperatures or from a second pressing will fail to meet the exacting standards for extra virgin olive oil.

It’s also worth noting that the term “pressed” is outdated. It was coined at a time when olive oil was extracted using a hydraulic press. Today, the vast majority of olive oil is extracted using a centrifuge. Click here to check out a video about how olive oil is made.

Olive oils have strict country-of-origin labeling requirements that are enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “Product of XX” refers to the origin of the oils in the bottle, meaning the olive oil was extracted from the olives in that country. “Imported from XX” or “Packed in XX” refers to where the oil was shipped or bottled; it does not mean the olive oil was produced in that country. All labels must include a “Product of” declaration to comply with the law, whether they include a “bottled in” or “packed in” statement or not; if olive oils from several countries are blended in the product, then each of the countries must be listed on the label as the countries of origin. (NOTE: NAOOA’s labeling guide recommends that where an “Imported from” or “Packed in” statement is made on the label, it should be in immediate proximity to the country-of-origin statement to avoid confusion.)

All olive oils produced in European Union member states, which includes more than 80% of the olive oil consumed in the U.S., are required to undergo risk analysis and controls to check for authenticity and conformity with labeling rules at every stage of marketing, including before they are exported.

Certainly not. There’s nothing inherently wrong with blending olive oils from different countries, which is done to maintain a consistent flavor profile and price point. In fact, there’s no guarantee that a bottle of oil that comes from a single country will be any better than a multi-country blend. Like blends in the wine industry, olive oil blends are created to achieve desired and even award-winning flavor profiles. In fact, it’s not uncommon for blends to win esteemed competitions like the Mario Solinas Quality Award. When choosing your oil, the trustworthiness of the producer is a more important factor than the country of origin; small estate producers and companies with positive brand recognition are most likely to take all steps needed to assure the quality of the oil in their bottles, regardless of where the oil comes from. A good rule of thumb is to judge the oil by tasting it as soon as you get it home. If it doesn’t meet your approval, take it back to the store for a refund or substitution.

The answer to this question depends in some respects on personal preference. And it doesn’t have to be complicated – just remember that light and air are the enemy!

As for the different packaging available, glass, lined tin, stainless steel, bag-in-box and PET plastic are all good options to help store and preserve the oil, as long as they have a secure seal or cap to keep air out.

Exposure to light will degrade olive oil over time, so if you plan to keep your olive oil in a glass or plastic bottle on an open shelf or kitchen counter, you’ll want to look for darker-colored or opaque packaging. That said, olive oil in a clear bottle that has outer packaging that protects it from extended light exposure before you get it home could be excellent. If you store it somewhere dark, the minimal light it will be exposed to isn’t going to harm it in any appreciable way, especially if you tend to use olive oil pretty quickly.

If you’re concerned about sustainability, you may be interested in r-PET, which are bottles made from recycled plastics. Plastic packaging is also lighter in general, which helps reduce the carbon footprint of shipping. Increasingly, olive oils are being sold in bag-in-box packaging, which is another good option with a lighter environmental footprint.

It’s better to leave the olive oil stored in a cool, dark place outside the fridge. Olive oil will form crystals and start to solidify when subjected to cold temperatures. Once the olive oil is brought back to room temperature, it will return to its liquid state. Some research suggests that repeated thawing and cooling – such as storing it in the fridge between uses – puts stress on the oil and can result in condensation inside the bottle that will negatively impact the quality of the oil and its shelf life. It’s also inconvenient to bring the olive oil back to room temperature to use it.

It's also worth noting that some people believe you can use the refrigerator to test the authenticity of extra virgin olive oil. This is simply not true. Extra virgin olive oil will crystallize and/or solidify at a wide variety of time and temperature exposures. All this variance is part of what makes extra virgin olive oil truly special. So, forget the fridge, and focus instead on enjoying the wide variety of flavors found among extra virgin olive oils.

Last updated: August 2, 2024