Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A good quality olive oil is a staple in my kitchen for both health and enjoyment reasons and I recommend it for nearly all of my clients. So I was sure to check out this latest review by ConsumerLab, a paid subscription service which does an excellent job of reviewing both of these components of foods, supplements and health-related items.

This latest review was motivated by recent research into the amount of phthalates (plasticizers) in olive oil. It also took into consideration the amounts of other chemicals that are commonly found in much of our food as well as taste! They hired a professional olive oil taster who has years of experience evaluating the pleasurable taste and flavor aspects of olive oil - her comments were especially interesting to me. I remember a trip to Sicily a few years ago when I had an olive oil tasting experience that was a side offering at a vineyard. They had just pressed a batch of recent harvest olives. The pungency and spiciness of that versus olive oil that had been pressed several months earlier was very noticeable! I learned that it was due to the high presence of polyphenols, important antioxidants that have many protective benefits for our health. Since then, I try to have a small bottle of a recent harvest/pressing in my kitchen to use on salads and as a pour-over on vegetables or fish and meat. (See my previous article on these olive oils.) I have my standard (less expensive) bottle of high quality olive oil that is lower in polyphenols, but also has a milder taste, for general purpose use.

The article was quite lengthy and I was anxious to see their Top Pick for an extra virgin olive oil (extra virgin is the highest grade designation according to several national and international rating organizations), so I scrolled to the bottom of the article and discovered that their top pick was the same bottle sitting on my kitchen counter! I offer that information, below, to my faithful paid subscribers.