How to Buy Quality Olive Oil, According to Experts : The Hearty Soul

Olive oil is famously healthy but shopping for it can be confusing. It can come in many kinds of containers with labels touting different varieties. Overall, most people want high quality olive with the most health benefits but don’t want to overpay for it. Fortunately, experts break down the meaning behind the labels and explain what features you should seek and avoid.

Choose oil extra-virgin

Bottle pouring virgin olive oil in a bowl close up — Source: Shutterstock

Extra-virgin olive oil is considered the highest grade. “The key to a virgin oil is that it’s an olive oil that’s extracted from the olive by mechanical means only, with no chemicals or heat added,” explains Joseph Profaci, executive director of The North American Olive Oil Association, to Well and Good. This process is known as cold-pressing, and it also allows the oil to retain the most health benefits.

Try different brands

Different sorts of cooking oil, close-up — Source: Shutterstock

However, not all taste the same, according to Consumer Reports. Some brands could offer a fruity or nutty flavor, while others are more herbal or grassy. Try different products to find the one you like the most. Keep in mind, the pungency in extra-virigin olive oil comes from polyphenols, which contain the antioxidants that give olive oil the reputation of being so healthy. These products are also full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. Generally, the more pungent and bitter the oil, the more polyphenols it contains.

Check the best-by date

Girl choosing bottle of oil in grocery section of supermarket. Copy space. Healthy diet concept. Sustainable lifestyle — Source: Shutterstock

Like with other packaged products, oil comes labeled with “best by” dates that indicate its freshness. Don’t confuse it with wine; you want to purchase the newest date. “If a bottle does not have a best by date on it, I wouldn’t buy it,” says Profaci. “In putting a best by date on a bottle, a company is representing that under proper storage conditions, this oil will be extra-virgin until the end of the best by date.”

Note the harvest date

Olive harvesting in the olive fields of Andalusia — Source: Shutterstock

Look for the harvest date on the label (but don’t confuse it with the best-by date). “What the harvest date tells me is that the producer understands what they’re working with,” says Nancy Ash, president of Strictly Olive Oil and longtime member of the California Olive Oil Council Taste Panel, to the Kitchn. “If there isn’t a harvest date on a bottle, there’s a good chance that the producer has put two different years of harvest into that bottle.” This can make the olive oil go rancid more quickly, since the product stays good for roughly 18 months after it’s harvested.

Avoid anything in a clear bottle

choosing olive oil, sauce, vinegar at the grocery store — Source: Shutterstock

The packaging’s goal shouldn’t be to look pretty on a store shelf. Rather, it should protect the oil and maintain its quality by mitigating light and keeping out oxygen. Therefore, you should look for olive oil that’s in tin or dark glass bottles. Don’t go for clear glass because they don’t protect the oil as well, which can lead it to degrade before you even open it. And don’t go for plastic bottles since the material is porous and lets air in.

How often do you use olive oil?

Exotic Avocado Seed Ingredient Poured Olive Oil. Male Hands Holding Half Tropical Fruit. Chef Cooking Healthy Vegetable Salad with Greens, Cucumber and Tomato. Dieting Culinary Food Horizontal Photo — Source: Shutterstock

Because it tends to go rancid quickly, determine how much you really need. This isn’t the product to buy in bulk, even if the store is having a sale. Especially avoid large containers if you won’t finish them. Once they’re open, the oil is exposed to oxygen that can make it expire even faster. In general, you should buy whatever quantity you’ll need over the course of two or three months. Remember to store it away from light and heat, and keep the cap on when it’s not in use.

Check the taste

Green olive oil and olive oil concept — Source: Shutterstock

Unfortunately, you can’t taste the product before you purchase it. But your experience while cooking and eating at home could help you decide what brand to buy during your next shop. “If your EVOO has a sour off-taste, smells stinky, or has a bad-nutty scent, it may have turned rancid. It can happen when the EVOO has been exposed too long to air or was stored at warm temperatures too long,” says Daniel Angerer, a chef at Paleo cult-fave Hu Kitchen.

If it goes rancid too quickly, you can try a different product, and reevaluate where the oil is stored in your kitchen.