For those confused, “virgin” olive oil means olive oil that has not been mixed (“adulterated”) with other substances. “Extra virgin”, in the United States, refers to olive oil that has the lowest acidity content and the strongest olive flavour, and this comes from the freshest and most quickly-pressed olives. Olive oil that is merely “virgin” is still unadulterated but may be used from olives that are not in their prime in terms of ripeness or have been sitting around for a few days, and thus has a higher acidity level.
“Refined olive oil” is virgin olive oil that has been chemically refined to produce a more stable oil which generally doesn’t have the taste of virgin olive oil nor the health benefits.
“Pure olive oil” is a mixture of mostly refined olive oil with a small amount of virgin or extra-virgin olive oil.
“Light olive oil” is olive oil that has been adulterated with other, cheaper oils.
Most grading schemes (for anything) are pretty arbitrary. I think the epitome of that is the system used to grade cuts of steak in the US, which from best to worst goes: prime, choice, select, standard, commercial, utility, cutter, canner
Yes, they are arbitrary, but when it’s a mostly tiered system it should be made obvious to most people what order to put them in.
To me, what’s obvious is that the lower tier products are intentionally named to not be obviously worse than any other. With “pure” being full of low quality “refined” oil. Light also sounds like it’s supposed to be good quality, just a low fat version… it’s silly.
For those confused, “virgin” olive oil means olive oil that has not been mixed (“adulterated”) with other substances. “Extra virgin”, in the United States, refers to olive oil that has the lowest acidity content and the strongest olive flavour, and this comes from the freshest and most quickly-pressed olives. Olive oil that is merely “virgin” is still unadulterated but may be used from olives that are not in their prime in terms of ripeness or have been sitting around for a few days, and thus has a higher acidity level.
“Refined olive oil” is virgin olive oil that has been chemically refined to produce a more stable oil which generally doesn’t have the taste of virgin olive oil nor the health benefits.
“Pure olive oil” is a mixture of mostly refined olive oil with a small amount of virgin or extra-virgin olive oil.
“Light olive oil” is olive oil that has been adulterated with other, cheaper oils.
None of these names are appropriately descriptive.
That’s by design. :)
Most grading schemes (for anything) are pretty arbitrary. I think the epitome of that is the system used to grade cuts of steak in the US, which from best to worst goes: prime, choice, select, standard, commercial, utility, cutter, canner
Yes, they are arbitrary, but when it’s a mostly tiered system it should be made obvious to most people what order to put them in.
To me, what’s obvious is that the lower tier products are intentionally named to not be obviously worse than any other. With “pure” being full of low quality “refined” oil. Light also sounds like it’s supposed to be good quality, just a low fat version… it’s silly.
Maybe they should have simple Grade A-E labels.