Beneficial for heart health, memory or to support immunity…olive oil is well known for its many virtues. It is also an essential ingredient of mediterranean diet, recommended by many doctors to stay healthy as long as possible. It is its content of monounsaturated fatty acids that makes olive oil a real ally.
Some criteria are however to be taken into consideration if you want your olive oil to be interesting from a nutritional. We cite in particular the designation “extra virgin”.
It turns out that extra virgin olive oil is the most healthy for health and stable even when used at high temperatures. In its issue of September 2023, What to choose presents a new investigation on olive oils qualified as extra virgin. While some are indeed of good quality, others do not meet the requirements associated with this designation.
What does the designation “extra virgin” mean?
” Behind the word “extra” hides the promise of optimal quality.explains Que Choisir. No chemical sign of alteration is in theory tolerated and, at the slightest false note in the mouth detected by a jury specially trained and authorized for this task, the oil is supposed to lose its qualification. It can of course keep the word “virgin”, which means that it has not undergone any chemical treatment or heating likely to modify its properties, but it sees the disappearance of the term “extra”, which imposes respect for a certain taste quality “.
The problem is that certain olive oils qualified as extra virgin do not in fact respect all the criteria what this name implies. Out of 14 oils analyzed by Que Choisir, more than half do not meet the requirements of the extra virgin appellation.
” The cheapest references, most often from Spain or Tunisia, were particularly affected, but high-end bottles were not spared either. “, adds Que Choisir.
Discover in images the extra virgin olive oils you can trust. Que Choisir awarded a score out of 20 taking into account its physicochemical quality and its content of pesticides and minerals.
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