Fake Olive Oil: How to Spot It and Avoid It
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"Fake" olive oil is usually real olive oil sold as something better than it is. The most common fraud is lower-grade oil labelled as extra virgin, or oil from one country sold as another's. You can protect yourself by checking origin, freshness, lab results and taste.
How olive oil fraud works
- Grade fraud: virgin or refined olive oil sold as extra virgin
- Blending: extra virgin cut with cheaper oils
- Origin fraud: imported oil labelled as Italian, Spanish or Greek
- Old stock: oil past its best, sold as fresh
Authorities in the EU and UK carry out checks, and outright fakes are rarer than headlines suggest. But oil that doesn't live up to its label is still common.
Label warning signs
- Vague origin such as "blend of EU and non-EU oils"
- No harvest date, only a best-before date
- Clear glass or plastic bottles
- A price that seems too good to be true for extra virgin
- Words like "light" or "pure", which usually mean refined oil
The myth of the fridge test
You may have read that real extra virgin olive oil solidifies in the fridge. It isn't reliable. Different oils cloud and set at different temperatures, so the test can't tell good oil from bad.
What actually works
- Buy traceable oil: a named estate or mill.
- Ask for lab results: acidity, peroxide value and ideally polyphenols.
- Taste it: real extra virgin should smell fresh and green, taste a little bitter and finish peppery.
Our approach
We import our oil directly from a single estate in Puglia, so we know exactly where it comes from. We have it independently tested and publish the results: 0.36% acidity, peroxide value 7.06 and 687 mg/kg polyphenols, confirmed as extra virgin. See the full lab results or read how to tell if olive oil is really extra virgin.