This post series on botanical ingredient adulteration is inspired by the excellent work coming out of the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) by the American Botanical Council (ABC), continuing today with:
➡️ Olive (Olea europaea) oil is used primarily as a food: extra virgin and virgin olive oils are valued for cooking, dressings, dips, and restaurant use because they retain the flavor, aroma, and naturally occurring phenolics, pigments, and tocopherols present in mechanically extracted oil. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat (especially oleic acid) and studies associate extra virgin olive oil consumed as part of the diet with cardiovascular-health benefits, including effects related to lipid metabolism and inflammation.
Consumers encounter olive oil in several grades and formats. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the highest-grade virgin oil, mechanically extracted without solvents or refining and required to meet strict chemical and sensory criteria; virgin and ordinary virgin oils are also mechanically extracted but meet different quality thresholds. Refined olive oil (sometimes called “pure olive oil”) and blends of refined and virgin olive oil are also sold for food use, while olive pomace oil is made from residual oil in processed olive solids, then refined and sometimes blended for consumption.
Adulteration, in the regulatory sense, means a product is unsafe or of inferior quality because it fails to meet legal standards for purity, strength, or composition (including contamination).
Economic adulteration is emphasized in these posts: intentional substitution, dilution, or undeclared additions that misrepresent a botanical’s true identity or quality compared to what the label and consumer would reasonably expect. Accidental adulteration is also present in some species.
For more detailed information on adulterants in botanicals, see the BAPP publications, which are freely available on their website. To view the entire downloadable PDF results, go to it here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kerry-hughes-941353_olive-oil-adulterants-activity-7504916976167702528-OPQx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAANEoEBzLdbgS9fjLoyZvrkZbXD8Nj5SFM