How to extricate yourself among the many labels of extra virgin olive oil present in large retailers? Our tips to choose as consciously as possible
Extra virgin olive oil it is not all the same: some derive from monocultivar olives, others from a miscellanea of olives, others are made with olives coming from the European Union. On the shelves of supermarkets the choice is very wide, it is often difficult to understand what kind of extra virgin olive oil we are buying. For this it is fundamental to know how to read the label, which can provide us with the necessary information so as not to make a mistake.
Labels, guarantee of transparency and quality
Each label on the bottle of extra virgin olive oil tells something about him: who has milled olives, where they have been milled and where they have been harvested for the production of that particular oil. It may happen that olives come from one or more countries of the European Union, or that they have all been collected in an Italian region and then processed in a mill in our country. In this case also the words "100% Italian product" appear. Each label then specifies that it is indeed an extra virgin olive oil, "an oil of a superior category, obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical processes ". This information is mandatory, can not be missing if it is an extra virgin olive oil. Beyond that, one must appear nutritional table, with indications of energetic value, fats, saturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins and salt.
The "optional" information
On the labels some information can appear that better define the characteristics of extra virgin olive oil. It can be specified "First cold pressing", or "cold extracted": the first concerns extra virgin olive oils obtained at less than 27 ° C with the first mechanical pressing of olives made using hydraulic presses, while the second refers to extra virgin olive oils, always obtained less than 27th, with a process of centrifugation of olive paste. Optional information may include those relating toacidity of the oil (which can not be higher than 0.8%), taste characteristics and related to the harvesting campaign. All news that help to better understand what type of oil we are buying, to make a choice as conscious as possible.
In the tutorial all the tips to choose and best preserve your extra virgin olive oil.
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