More on Olive Oil

Another type of olive oil is First Cold Press. This is olive oil that is produced from the first pressing of the olives usually with a traditional hydraulic press at a temperature of less than 80.6 degrees. The less heat and the quicker the extraction, the better the oil. Be cautious with this one, even though the label says first press, it does not mean that the oil will be good. This is also an old term and you may not see it in the grocery store. The biggest problem is that there really is no longer a first pressing and often heat is used in the process which changes the oil.

Some of you may like the unfiltered olive oil. In this case, it just means that pieces of the olives are left in the oil. The oil is not filtered to remove the sediment. The problem is that this can lead to a shorter shelf life because the sediment becomes rancid.

Blended olive oils are oils which have been blended together from multiple sources - different groves, different countries, and different varieties of olives. This is in an effort to get a stable taste to the oil as it will vary from year to year depending on the rain or heat of the area in chich the olives are raised. Be sure to read these labels carefully as blended in the USA may mean that the olive oil has been blended with canola or vegetable oil.

Light or extra light olive oil is basically a marketing ploy to get you to purchase something that has no true definition. If you think these olive oils have fewer calories, guess again. They do not. The number of calories per tablespoon is 120. Note, they put the number of calories per serving in teaspoons, so read the label carefully.

Olive Oil

Since I've been writing about fats, I thought I would give you a little extra information about olive oil and what all of the terms mean. You may remember I said to buy extra virgin olive oil. What you may not know is what extra virgin means. This is the highest grade of olive oil because it is produced without using high heat or chemicals. The color of the oil represents the age of the olives when they are picked. A more green grassier olive oil has a stronger flavor and is made from an earlier harvest - the olives are not as ripe. Later harvests yield a milder more yellow oil.

Virgin olive oil is produced the same way as extra virgin olive oil. The difference is in the amount of oleic acid present. Oleic acid is omega 9 fatty acid, which is a monounsaturated fat. The body can produce this if it has enough omega 3 and omega 6. When there is a deficiency of either omega 3 or omega 6, the body will produce omega 9 to try to compensate.

Ordinary olive oil is another form of virgin olive oil. The difference here is that is contains more oleic acid and impurities. It is a lesser quality oil and should only be used for frying or where you do not want the flavor.