01-16-2010, 06:33 AM
Doc wrote:
Buy the cheapest by-volume extra-virgin from Italy.
Always check the back of the label to confirm that it is, in fact, entirely from Italy and mentions the name of the farm that produced it.
You must read the back of the label to verify this since American bottlers usually put "Italian" in big bold print on the front of their labels even if only 5% of the oil in the bottle actually comes from Italy.
Only extra-virgin olive oil from Italy has to adhere to any real standards. Olive oil from other countries is likely a mix of oils and could be adulterated with any number of unlisted additives. (I learned this the hard way when I had a nasty reaction to an "extra-virgin olive oil" that was probably cut with hazelnut oil oil and machine-grade mineral oil.)
Actually, you can't even be sure that Italian olive oil is unadulterated, but it's a better bet than any other olive oil.
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Cheapest because it's stupid to squander money.
This is the money response-- surprised nobody else mentioned this.
You want extra-virgin oil which states very specifically that it was produced in Italy, not packed in Italy or shipped from Italy, for the reasons doc stated.