Recently there was an article that I shared on Facebook that got a lot of responses. The article used dramatic language about “fake” olive oil that rankled a lot of foodies, suggesting that not only are a lot of olive oils not extra virgin olive oil but that are mixed with other oils.
The Test
What I personally wanted to know after perusing the article is… Are my oils actually extra virgin olive oil? I use two in my kitchen: PC Splendido Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil and (also Loblaw’s owned) No Name Light Tasting Pure Olive Oil. Splendido is for making salad dressings and I cook with the No Name Olive Oil.
The test? Put the oils in the fridge!
I took the article’s advice and put the oils in the fridge and then promptly forgot about them. If you want to test yours just put the oil in the fridge for half an hour. If they start to solidify, it means that there is a large amount of monounsaturated fat = REAL olive oil.
I was thrilled to see that BOTH of my oils solidified in the fridge and was quite surprised! Clearly the colour is different and the No Name is probably of a lesser quality because it is not the colour of olives but hey, that was more than I was expecting from it.
So how do you think your olive oils do with this test? What olive oil do you use?
Update!
I have a friend who sent me this link that saying the fridge test is BUNK but I want to point out that I put my canola oil in the fridge and two hours later… Transparent! I think there is truth in the quality of the oil and being monounsaturated.
I don’t use much oil but … back when I lived on the east coast and had the heat off, my olive oil that was in the kitchen. FROZE.
But yes, I did know about fake oils. It’s a shame but that’s the way it goes.
Woah!!! Now THAT is COLD!!!
I know, I was young and nuts. I never wanted to run my heat.
So…….how do I know that my olive oil is real olive oil
That fridge test is total bogus and not reliable. One of the biggest myths out there, to supposedly test whether olive oil is real. You should do some research and you’ll find out for yourself. The fridge tests proves nothing.
I put Splendido in the fridge yesterday and there is no solidifying at all. The 2017 harvest now being sold was very sparse and the Splendido which used to solidify no longer does. It’s also thicker and less ‘green’ than it was. It’s probably adulterated, at least the 2017 batch. We are consuming this for the health benefits and may be harming ourselves with adulterated harmful oils such as soybean. This is unacceptable.