Olive oil, especially extra virgin, is a product found on tables every day, yet you can never be entirely sure you’re buying a quality oil.

Olive oil, in fact, is one of the most commonly counterfeited products, and there’s a real risk of bringing home something that, at best, doesn’t match what’s stated on the label, and at worst, could even be harmful to your health.

So how can you tell a quality olive oil apart? Here are a few useful tips.

Never trust cheap oil

Extra virgin olive oil isn’t a cheap product, since a great deal of processing goes into making it. For this reason, be wary of bottles sold at supermarkets for a suspiciously low price, as they almost certainly hide some kind of shortcut and aren’t quite what they claim to be. A better approach is to visit small local producers and ask to sample their extra virgin olive oil, allowing you to try a product that’s certainly high quality, yet more affordable, since it’s sold directly.

Reading the label

The label is always a valuable source of information when it comes to understanding the quality of the oil you’re about to buy. First of all, it’s important to learn how to read it properly, and to be wary of any label that doesn’t clearly state information about the product’s origin, the quality of the olives used, and so on.

It’s worth remembering that, by law, food labels are required to be clear, easily legible, and above all permanent, so that no important information is left out.

Among the details that must always appear on the label of a bottle of extra virgin olive oil are, of course, the expiration date, but also the producer’s name, the net quantity, and the sales designation. Getting into the habit of carefully checking the label before buying is a good practice worth always keeping.

Always choose extra virgin, ideally organic

Among the many oils available at the supermarket, extra virgin olive oil should always be the preferred choice, as it’s the only one that guarantees the use of pure pressed olives, with no other oils or blends added. Extra virgin olive oil can also be identified by its maximum acidity, which must not exceed 1% (compared to 1.5% for regular olive oil, for example).

Extra virgin olive oil is therefore the healthiest oil there is, partly because it’s processed under thermal conditions designed not to alter the product’s balance or its organoleptic qualities.

Another small trick for finding quality oil is to choose organic oil exclusively.

Traditional producers, in fact, often rely on pesticides in their crops to prevent pests from attacking olive trees: in organic farming, pesticides are strictly prohibited, meaning the quality of the oil is even higher, and its flavor improves as well.

The ideal choice is to use oil made from your own olives, but if that’s not an option, you can turn to products from the many small local producers specializing in organic farming, found throughout Italy.

What are DOP, IGP, and deodorized olive oils

To be sure you’re buying quality olive oil, you can choose PDO-certified products, certified by national bodies that guarantee their quality.

To earn the PDO label, oils, like all other food products, must meet certain production requirements, such as a strong connection to the local area and the use of locally sourced raw materials. A similar certification is PGI, though in Italy only Tuscan oil is entitled to carry this label.

In both cases, however, strict controls help ensure the product’s quality and authenticity, as well as its market positioning, making it instantly recognizable. On the other hand, you should be wary of so-called “deodorized” oils, made by blending and refining different types of oil, making them low-quality products.

Within the European Union, deodorized oils have been permitted since 2011, and there are really only two ways to spot them: an extremely low price, and a highly refined palate capable of detecting their presence.

The advantages of cold-pressed olive oil

A high-quality olive oil is one obtained through cold pressing of the raw material.

We speak of cold pressing or cold extraction when the temperature of the olives never exceeds 27 degrees: to maintain this temperature, no chemical solvents or processing techniques other than the traditional method can be used, meaning greater quality is guaranteed.

Olive oil obtained through cold pressing is considered particularly good because this processing method preserves all of its organoleptic qualities and helps safeguard vitamins, healthy fatty acids, and much more besides.

Another feature of this type of oil is its relatively low smoke point, making it a product best suited for raw consumption, for example to dress a salad or add the finishing touch to any dish.

How to best store olive oil

To preserve the taste and flavor of olive oil once purchased, it must be stored properly. The first rule to know is that olive oil should always be kept in a cool place, away from direct light or heat sources.

Even if you buy a large tin containing several liters, it’s a good idea to transfer the oil into smaller bottles, ideally made of dark glass, and store the rest in the tin following the guidelines described above. When exposed to direct light, in fact, olive oil tends to deteriorate.

Enjoy extra virgin olive oil raw

Although olive oil, especially extra virgin, can be used in countless different dishes and recipes of all kinds, the best way to enjoy it is raw.

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over a salad, a plate of pasta, or even simply a piece of bread lets you fully appreciate every aspect of its flavor, savoring every detail and enjoying it at its very best.

What’s more, enjoying olive oil raw is also a great way to learn to recognize its quality and tell the different types apart: as your palate becomes more refined and better able to spot its characteristics, it will become much easier to recognize a fake the next time you come across one.

Can olive oil be used for frying?

Many people are used to thinking of olive oil purely as something to be enjoyed raw, or at least unsuitable for certain cooking methods like frying. Recent studies in the field, however, have shown that olive oil is actually one of the best options for frying, as it withstands the heat of the pan and hot oil particularly well.

The research compared several different types of oil, including olive oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, and soybean oil, and the results were surprising: with olive oil (note, though: regular olive oil, not extra virgin), the fried food turns out crispier, less greasy, and highly digestible. Another type of oil that proved well suited to this cooking method was sesame oil, though it’s used mainly in Asian cuisine and much less so in Mediterranean cooking.

Cold-pressed olive oil, on the other hand, is not recommended for frying, as it performs the same way as extra virgin oil.