The Old Ways
A major feature of the traditional olive oil is its simplicity and easiness to use. Historically, olive oil was produced by small producers using a communal press – usually associated with the church. The olives were harvested at the turning-colour stage – for quality olive oil and maximum yield. Although the olive harvesting was slaw and carried out under adverse winter weather conditions, the olive oil was very good. It was a genuine olive fruit juice and served well the healthy, flavoursome and pro-environment Mediterranean diet (MedDiet).
Traditionally, after stone-crushing the olives, the paste was pressed to obtain the olive fruit juice (olive oil and wastewater). Natural decantation separated the olive oil from the wastewater. Being lighter, the olive oil sits at the top and easily removed. If warm water was used for a second pressing, although the olive oil was still good, it was demoted to second press.
As no irrigation of the olive trees took place, no water was used during the production process and no filtering of the olive oil was performed, this historic olive oil was rich in flavour and in natural antioxidants – called polyphenols. In addition to their health and flavour-enhancing benefits, polyphenols protect the oil against oxidation enabling long storage life. As Professor Paul Kyritsakis called them, ‘polyphenols are the olive oil’s shields’. The press method, although laborious, was, and still is, simple and the best way to produce quality olive oil.
Tasting was done at the press mill – the Greeks using bread and the Italians pasta. The olive oil was then stored for a few weeks/months to soften its strong bitter taste; if it had small defects, it was consumed first – a practice which eliminates waste. Very defective olive oil was called lampante and was used as fuel – usually for lighting the lamps.
Traditionally, there was only one type of olive oil. It was common to successfully store enough olive oil for two years – in case the following year’s production was inadequate. Next year, if the new olive oil was not as good, they kept the old olive oil and sold the new. (Interestingly, in ancient Athens, olive oil was produced and stored for up to three years and was offered as a trophy to the winners of the Pan-Athenian Games, held every four years.)
Importantly, the terminology used was very simple. The term olive oil (or just oil in Greek), indicated a genuine olive fruit juice. While the oil was a ‘pure virgin’, it was not called ‘virgin’, let alone ‘extra virgin’.
Although the olive oil was one of the smallest ingredients of the MedDiet it has played a significant flavour-enhancing role for this substantially plant based diet. Unlike in recent years, olive oil was a low-cost ingredient and an excellent source of nutrients. The same olive oil was used for everything including in salads, cooking and frying.
Notable facts
1. The historic olive oil was nutritious and a vital flavouring ingredient of the healthy, pro-environment and low-cost MedDiet.
2. Olive oil, having served the traditional MedDiet exceptionally well, can now flavour emerging vegetarian and vegan diets.
3. Best olive oil comes from non-irrigated and non-fertilised olive trees. It is extracted by stone crushing the olives, pressing the olive paste and separating the olive oil from the wastewater by natural decantation and the olive oil was not filtered.
4. Spain is by far the largest producer of olive oil, followed by Italy (which is also reputed to be the largest exporter and importer of olive oil), with Greece a distant third. Greece, however, is the largest producer of extra virgin olive oil percentagewise, arguably because production is mainly in the hands of smaller producers.
Modern developments
Several benchmarks relating to olive oil and the MedDiet started in the 1950s:
1. The International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), now called International Olive Council (IOC), was established as an intergovernmental organisation for olive producing states.
2. The epidemiological cardiology Seven Countries Study began in this decade. It was quickly established that the traditional diet of the rural areas of the Mediterranean in the 1950s was healthy, with a long-life expectancy and protective against chronic disease. Prof. Ancel Keys, the leader of this study, used the term Mediterranean diet to describe the dietary practises of this decade and beyond. The term was formalised in the 1990s.
3. Massive changes to olive oil production began:
· The slow but effective stone-crushing of the olives was replaced by the fast but inefficient steel crushers – necessitating mixing the olive paste with warm water which leads to polyphenol loss.
· The laborious but advantageous press system was replaced by the centrifugation decanter – with warm water added that leads to further polyphenol loss.
· To remove impurities, the olive oil is then passed through another decanter with more warm water added, also leading to polyphenol loss.
· Finally, the olive oil is filtered, again, resulting in polyphenol loss.
Note:
While in the historic press extraction process the use of water demoted the olive oil to second press, nowadays, the use of larger quantities of water and the filtering of the olive oil have been legitimised by the olive oil industry. However, despite the modern loss of polyphenols, olive oil, compared to seed oils, is still rich in polyphenols.
Seed oils (such as canola and sunflower) which dominate the market nowadays, are deprived of all their natural antioxidants during the extraction process and are enriched instead with synthetic antioxidants.
4. Associated with these changes is the modern linguistic vandalism where the term ‘olive oil’ now refers to a blend of refined olive oil (colourless, flavourless and odourless) and a small quantity of virgin olive oil to restore some colour and flavour. Consumers, and even academics, are unaware of such deceptive, misleading and dishonest actions.
Also, remarkably and confusingly, modern olive oil is called virgin, with varying degrees of ‘virginity’ (extra virgin, fine virgin, semi-fine virgin and virgin). Yet, with the modern reduction of polyphenols virgin olive oil it is anything but.
Authorities and legislators are called to urgently address such dishonest anomalies!
5. Unlike the traditional simple taste evaluation of olive oil, the tasting test is now in the hands of expensive but subjective olive oil tasting competitions – the most famous being the New York Olive Oil Competition. Once the olive oil receives a prize, its selling price becomes exorbitantly high making it unaffordable for the healthy MedDiet. Another drawback is that modern practices disadvantage small producers – who, anecdotally, produce better quality olive oil.
6. Despite the modern convenience of using fossil fuel, which makes the extraction of olive oil quicker and cheaper, modern olive oil is unjustifiably expensive. Worse, even the ‘best” prize winning olive oils are now subject to polyphenol loss from the unnecessary production practices such as irrigation and fertilization of olive trees, the use of machinery to separate the olive oil from the wastewater and the filtering of the olive oil – instead of the traditional natural decantation.
7. It is well-known in the industry that olive oil from larger producers is fatigued – possibly from the use of very large storage containers and the associated heavy pumping.
The modern quest for ‘best olive oil’ is typical of modern marketing practices – highlighting real or presumed positives and downplaying or ignoring negatives and hidden complexities.
The olive oil industry should ponder: What is the point of aiming for ‘best’ olive oil, based on subjective taste criteria, when it suffers antioxidant loss and becomes too expensive for the healthy MedDiet!
In researching and teaching of the practical aspects of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil included, I have observed massive consumer confusion. Regrettably, even the media, academia and authorities such as the European Union are confused, misinformed and most likely unaware of the industry’s puzzling and misleading regulations and production practices.
Contradictory ‘advice’ to my students:
Olive oil is the best; Do not use ‘olive oil’ – it is industrially refined!
Olive oil and the European Union
Although olive oil was an essential flavouring ingredient of the healthy, pro-environment and low-cost MedDiet, the modern olive oil industry’s production and promotion practices have led to higher production costs and to misleading and deceptive marketing that prevent successful use of the olive oil for the multi-beneficial MedDiet.
Regrettably, even the European Union (EU) has succumbed to the industry’s misleading terminology and compromised production practices. Indeed, in its regulations, the EU:
· Legitimised the olive oil’s industry’s scandalous, misleading and deceptive terminology e.g. use of the generic term olive oil to describe a highly refined oil.
· Legitimised the use of water at various stages of production and the filtering that lead to polyphenol loss.
· It is overlooked that properly produced and stored olive oil lasts a lot longer than the industry wants us to believe.
· Restricts the sale of olive oil in small containers that leads to higher prices, to negative environmental impact and to increased danger of oxidation of the olive oil resulting in shorter storage life.
· Under the EU regulations, the informed, demanding and caring consumer, is prevented by the very high cost of the olive oil to practise the multi beneficial Mediterranean diet.
Consumers should be encouraged, not prohibited by EU regulations, to purchase their annual supplies of olive oil in bulk in large containers – good for the family budget, better for longer storage life and for successful implementation of a healthy diet and for addressing climate change.
Main points:
1. Modern olive oil terminology is false, misleading, deceptive and an obstacle to effective implementation and promotion of the MedDiet.
2. The Olive Oil Industry has now legitimised the use of water and the filtering that lead to the reduction of natural antioxidants of the olive oil.
3. The recent futile quest for best and freshest olive oil leads to higher production costs and to confusion that favour the highly refined and cheaper seed oils.
4. Linguistic integrity should be protected and respected.
5. Olive oil, once a humble flavouring maiden of the MedDiet, has now become a very costly ‘extra virgin’ – too expensive to serve the MedDiet.
Seed oils vs. olive oil
Seed oils – also called vegetable oils – are industrially produced using chemical and thermal treatment at very high temperatures and are deodorised and chemically bleached which leads to total loss of natural antioxidants, necessitating enrichment with synthetic antioxidants. Further, the extensive use of non-renewable energy resources makes seed oils cheaper but unfriendly to the environment and not as healthy as the naturally produced olive oil. Yet, with their lower prices and deceptive and misleading marketing, seed oils dominate the market.
The failure of government authorities to establish well-thought-out policies and regulations has allowed the oil industry and lobby groups to influence the definition of oil. Curiously, the definition for oils is based on the chemical composition of highly refined seed oils – ignoring the historic olive oil’s richness in natural antioxidants and its healthy record.
Consequently, and paradoxically, under the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) regulations, olive oil receives a lower star rating than the highly refined industrially produced seed oils. It is astonishing that the natural olive oil, with its proven health and other benefits, has been rated lower than the industrially produced highly refined seed oils!
This is a scandalous anomaly and policy makers and regulatory authorities are called to urgently address it.
Recommendations
Authorities and legislators are called to:
1. Ensure that the oil industry and FSANZ respect linguistic integrity and avoid anomalies where industrially produced highly refined seed oils receive a higher star rating than the olive oil which is naturally produced and with proven and extensive health benefits.
2. Address linguistic vandalism – a powerful modern instrument for misleading and deceptive marketing, where the historic term olive oil, is now reserved for industrially produced refined olive oil.
3. Make it mandatory for olive oil producers to declare that:
Their olive oil is produced without use of water and filtering. Cold pressed olive oil is produced by stone crushing the olives and the paste is pressed without use of water.
4. Protect consumers against modern marketing that highlights real or presumed advantages and overlooks negatives and hidden complexities.
5. Ensure policies and regulations are developed without the influence of lobby groups.
6. Encourage consumers to purchase their annual supplies of olive oil in bulk and store it at home in large container(s) – the same way it was done successfully over the millennia.
Let science, facts and reason guide decision making, policy development and regulations – without influence from lobbyists.
With its flavour enhancing properties olive oil can lead to a successful revival of the substantially vegetarian Mediterranean diet – a proactive cause treatment action for addressing the modern escalation of chronic disease and catastrophic climate change problems.
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*Markos Dymiotis has a special interest in the traditional Mediterranean Diet of the 1950s – the diet he was born and grew up with in Cyprus. He has been teaching the practical aspects of this diet (including olive oil and olives) since 1989 with the CAE, Melbourne and has written several articles including peer reviewed papers. He has been an Honourary Research Fellow, La Trobe University, Melbourne.