Bizarre: in the Netherlands, we’re mass-producing food in olive oil made from rotten olives
The Keuringsdienst van Waarde never fails to shock us with bizarre abuses in the food industry. One of the latest episodes is about olive oil (again). What did they discover this time? That here in the Netherlands, we’re putting olive oil made from rotten olives in our pans on a massive scale. I know, shocking news. But the story behind it is even more outrageous. Because when it comes to olive oil, we’re genuinely being ripped off on a massive scale.
Extra virgin olive oil, traditional olive oil, classic olive oil, mild olive oil, olive oil for cold use, olive oil for hot use… In the supermarket, you can no longer see the forest for the olive trees. When the presenters of Keuringsdienst van Waarde make their familiar round of phone calls, it turns out that many spokespersons don’t really know either. “Extra virgin just has a stronger taste, I think” and “You can never go wrong with the classic one,” we hear them say. One spokesperson can’t even come up with the term “extra virgin.” So yes, it’s clear that here in the Netherlands we’re pretty ignorant when it comes to olive oil.
Spanish olive farmer: the expert
In Southern Europe, they can tell us more about it. Presenter Ersin travels to Spain, where he speaks with olive farmer Alfonso Raez. Among the olive trees, on a hilly olive grove (I want to book a ticket to Spain RIGHT NOW), they talk about olive oil. About how there can be so many different types of olive oil. And it turns out that the difference lies in where the olive comes from. Not necessarily whether they come from Spain, Italy or Greece, but where they are located in the olive grove.
Virgin vs. rotten
There, in the fairytale-like olive landscape, the truth comes out. Alfonso explains that the olives still on the tree are used for extra virgin olive oil. Those are “virgin olives,” “Like touched for the very first time,” as Ersin puts it. They are processed into olive oil within 24 hours of being picked; otherwise, they cannot be called extra virgin olive oil. So these olives produce the highest-quality olive oil. But then comes the shocking part. Olive oil is also made from olives that have fallen to the ground. That’s good for reducing waste, you might think. Yes, but also remember that those olives have worms on them. And birds. And all kinds of vermin. And that a whole lot of those olives are rotten, meaning you’re putting oil made from those olives in your pan to make delicious pasta.
Incredibly heavily processed
That “rotten” olive oil is never extra virgin olive oil. It is, however, olive oil with words such as “mild” or “classic” on the packaging. If you know what happens to that olive oil… It’s enough to make you shudder. The oil is subjected to incredibly intensive processing in refineries. It is successively purified, neutralized, washed and dried, bleached, possibly winterized (which ensures that the oil stays clear and liquid), deodorized (which removes unwanted smells and flavors) and filtered. Keeping up? You can barely recognize any olive in refined olive oil.
From lamp oil to something fit for consumption
Unrefined oil from “ground olives” — which contain plenty of rotten material — is like diarrhea. According to presenter Ersin. It does indeed look like diarrhea, and apparently tastes like it too. Ersin gags when he tastes it. But once the oil has been refined, almost nothing remains of the original product. It tastes of nothing, is colorless and odorless, and contains almost none of the healthy compounds anymore. Refining removes unsaturated fats, antioxidants and vitamin E. An interesting fact: unrefined oil used to be used as lamp oil. So essentially, you’re consuming lamp oil that has been transformed into edible oil. Cheers.
We’re being scammed…
The longer you watch the Keuringsdienst van Waarde episode, the more you realize that you’re being ripped off. For example, we discover that producers add a percentage of extra virgin olive oil to refined olive oil, just to give it a little olive-oil taste and smell. Bizarre: it must contain between 2 and 5% extra virgin olive oil; otherwise, the producer is not allowed to put “olive oil” on the packaging. Huh?!
The idea that we shouldn’t fry in extra virgin olive oil also turns out to be complete nonsense. Presenter Marijn Frank calls Wilma van Grinsven-Padberg, a professional olive oil taster. She says: “Olive oil used to be made with gray millstones. Remnants of pits and skins remained in the oil, and they burned. That made it dangerous to fry with at the time. But nowadays everything is filtered, so you can perfectly well fry in extra virgin olive oil.” Francesco Rubino, an Italian chef whom Marijn visits, agrees. He only fries in extra virgin olive oil and doesn’t understand where that strange Dutch myth came from.
…and ripped off
Then comes the final push that will really convince you never to choose mild, classic or traditional olive oil again: they are more expensive than extra virgin olive oil. Yes, really. We’re talking a few cents, but you’re simply paying more for rotten junk than for genuine quality. Employees at an olive-oil refinery whom Ersin speaks to in the episode can hardly believe it. “It’s like selling a Dacia for the price of a Mercedes,” one of the producers rightly says. Alberto Lopez Silvosa, a Spanish chef whom Marijn speaks with, also thinks it’s a bizarre situation. “You’re being ripped off very often because you don’t have an olive-oil culture.”
Conclusion: leave those greasy nonsense oils on the shelf and choose extra virgin from now on. Don’t let yourself be ripped off anymore. You know better.
Also read:
- Olive oil in pasta water: fact or fiction?
- Prison sentence for Greeks who wanted to sell sunflower oil as olive oil
- Keuringsdienst van Waarde investigates: this is what supermarket cheese slices are really like (and it’s not good)
Source: Keuringsdienst van Waarde
