Consumers can easily be confused by all of the definitions, labels and misleading descriptions applied to all standards of oil extracted or pressed from the fruit of olive trees.
In order to clarify the terminology by setting defined standards, the International Olive Council produced the following definitions. These are widely accepted as the legal definitions of the different standards of olive oil.
Nudo only produces and sells Extra Virgin olive oil. The only exception is Nudo’s flavoured oils, which whilst using Extra Virgin olive oil, the addition of the fruit or herb flavour means technically they are no longer classed as Extra Virgin olive oil.
International Olive Council Definitions
Extra Virgin olive oil
Extra Virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams, and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard.
Ordinary virgin olive oil
Virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 3.3 grams per 100 grams and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. This designation may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale. If not permitted, the designation of this product has to comply with the legal provisions of the country concerned.
Refined olive oil
Refined olive oil is the olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils by refining methods which do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. This designation may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale.
Virgin olive oil
Virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 2 grams per 100 grams and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard.
Virgin olive oil not fit for consumption
Virgin olive oil not fit for consumption as it is, designated lampante virgin olive oil, is virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of more than 3.3 grams per 100 grams and/or the organoleptic characteristics and other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. It is intended for refining or for technical use.
Olive oil
Olive oil is the oil consisting of a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. The country of retail sale may require a more specific designation.
Olive pomace
Olive pomace oil is the oil obtained by treating olive pomace with solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by re esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds. It is marketed in accordance with the following designations and definitions:
Crude olive pomace oil is olive pomace oil whose characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. It is intended for refining for use for human consumption, or it is intended for technical use.
Refined olive pomace oil is the oil obtained from crude olive pomace oil by refining methods which do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. This product may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale.
Olive pomace oil is the oil comprising the blend of refined olive pomace oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are. It has a free acidity of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in the IOC standard. The country of retail sale may require a more specific designation.
First Cold Press
Since the middle of the 20th century most extra virgin olive oil is made using a centrifuge and not a press. Apart from a few mills that keep their heritage alive by using an old press or grinding stones to extract the oil, and this is largely for exhibition rather than commercial extraction, the oil from an olive is largely extracted using the latest technology in state of the art mills where the olives are never subjected to a heat higher than 27 °C (80.6 °F).
In the days when olive oil was made almost exclusively using grinding stones or hydraulic presses, the term ‘first press’ described the extra virgin olive oil produced from freshly harvested olives, literally from the first pressing. The olives then, like today, being picked in the autumn months, arrived at the press cold and this ‘cold, first pressed oil’ would have all of the qualities of extra virgin olive oil. The exception being if the fruits in the first place were of poor quality, past ripe, not fresh picked or damaged by disease, insects or other pests etc. which in turn would lower the quality of the pressed oil to a standard not meeting the criteria of extra virgin.
Having pressed all of the best oil from their olives many producers would add hot water to the leftover pulp and press it again and again to extract the lower quality inferior oil used as fuel for lamps, hence the term lampante oil to describe the lowest quality oil, fit these days only for industrial use.
It was the European Union wanting to provide clarity for consumers that provided a legal definition for the terms ‘first cold pressed’ and ‘cold extraction’.
The EU stipulates that ‘first cold press’ may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils obtained at a temperature below 27 °C from a first mechanical pressing of the olive paste by a traditional extraction system using hydraulic presses.
The term ‘cold extraction’ should be used for extra virgin or virgin olive oils obtained at a temperature below 27 °C by percolation or centrifugation.
The European Union is the leading producer, consumer and exporter of olive oil. It is estimated that 4 million hectares in the European Mediterranean countries, are dedicated to the cultivation of olives, producing thereabouts 67% of the world’s olive oil.
Most modern olive mills produce oil using ‘cold extraction’. The olives are not pressed or squashed to release their oil, but tipped into cylindrical metal crushers which, whilst slowly churning, crush the olives using a series of metal blades. The whole fruit is gradually turned into paste, which in turn passes into a centrifuge where the oil is separated from the pulp and the fruits’ water content, thus resulting (if the olives are of a high standard, not over / under ripe, diseased or infested) in three elements at the end of the process – extra virgin olive oil, the olive pulp or pomace and the olive’s water content.
So ‘First Cold Press’ is really these days simply a marketing term because in reality most modern oils are not technically pressed but extracted … but to be honest, ‘pressed’ does sound so much nicer than ‘extracted’.
Health benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra Virgin olive oil is traditionally cited as an important source of monounsaturated fats associated with weight loss a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease plus a wide range of other benefits.
Recently Nasir Malik from the United States Department of Agriculture has said that olive oil’s health benefits have now been identified as coming from organic chemicals known as phenolic compound or polyphenols. “The health benefits of extra virgin olive oil are 99 percent related to the presence of the phenolic compounds, not the oil itself,” he was quoted as saying to the Washington post in 2012.
What are polyphenols?
Polyphenol is an umbrella term for a large family of naturally occurring plant compounds comprising multiple phenol units, which act as antioxidants.
There are 8,000 different types of polyphenols and more than 100 types of foods with at least one milligram of polyphenols per 100 grams of food or beverage. These vary widely from fruits and vegetables to whole grains and seeds.
Polyphenols are found most abundantly in Extra Virgin olive oil. For authoritative factual information regarding polyphenols, we recommend reading this link to an article published in the Olive Oil Times.
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/basics/what-are-polyphenols-and-why-should-you-care/103382
Filtered or Unfiltered
The majority of Nudo’s Extra Virgin Olive oil is filtered. The exception being Olio Nuovo the first of the year’s deliveries to customers. This unfiltered oil has a cloudy appearance caused by tiny particles of the fruit remaining suspended in the oil. These tiny flavour packed particles deliver the vibrant and robust flavour character and give it its iconic cloudy green appearance unique to this oil. This is Olio Nuovo, bottled and delivered immediately after harvest, it is the freshest oil you can get and is a real seasonal treat.
The majority of extra virgin olive oils are filtered before bottling to remove the olive sediment. Filtering leaves a translucent oil which some consumers prefer and removing the organic sediment means the oil lasts longer.
Filtering takes time to allow the particles to naturally settle. Once settled the oil is filtered through a cotton sieve to remove most of the remaining sediment, leaving a clear oil which is bottled. This is why the oil From Your Tree is delivered in April, we send it out as soon as possible after it produced and bottled.
