Does Olive Oil Go Bad?
The first thing to know is that there are different types of olive oils. There are two main types: extra virgin and non-extra virgin. Extra Virgin means that the oil was extracted from olives grown in the most pure form of nature. Non-Extra Virgin means that the oil was not extracted from olives grown in such a way, but rather through chemical processes or other methods which have had some sort of effect on its quality.
In general, the higher the percentage of extra virgin olive oil, the better it tastes. However, there are many varieties of extra virgin olive oils available today. Some contain less than 0.5% alcohol while others may even exceed 1%.
Some brands are labeled “V” (very low) or “low acidity”. These terms refer to their high content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). Monounsaturated fats are considered healthy because they tend to lower cholesterol levels.
There are also several varieties of non-virgin olive oils. They differ from regular extra virgin olive oils in that they do not contain any alcohol. Most of these varieties include sunflower, safflower, rapeseed, corn and/or peanut oil.
All of them have been refined with chemicals or other additives to remove impurities and increase shelf life.
Listed below are some health benefits of each type of oil:
Extra virgin Olive Oil:
-It is rich in monounsaturated fat (MUFA).
-It can help reduce bad cholesterol.
-It is a good source of antioxidants. Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances that may help protect your body’s cells from the affects of free radicals. Free radicals can cause cell damage that may lead to certain types of cancer.
Sources & references used in this article:
Testing olive oil quality: chemical and sensory methods by R Mailer, C Beckingham – Profitable & Sustainable Primary Industries …, 2006 – spartacos.be
Olive oil: history, production, and characteristics of the world’s classic oils by P Vossen – HortScience, 2007 – journals.ashs.org
The role of omega-3 fatty acids contained in olive oil on chronic inflammation by EES Wardhana, EA Datau – inflammation, 2011 – inaactamedica.org
Direct olive oil authentication: Detection of adulteration of olive oil with hazelnut oil by direct coupling of headspace and mass spectrometry, and multivariate … by F Peña, S Cárdenas, M Gallego, M Valcárcel – Journal of Chromatography …, 2005 – Elsevier
