fake olive oil

[Christ_empowered]

i read at a couple of reputable places (newsweek was one, I think) that a lot of the olive oil we buy (by 'we' I mean me...I was going for bargain priced stuff until...now...) is -fake-. As in...not real. LOL.

Seriously, it just didn't dawn on me that huge chunks of the imported olive oil market have been taken over by clever forgeries. kinda makes sense...olive oil has been a hot commodity for thousands of years, so the fakers have some tricks up their sleeves.

the articles i've read offered up 2 solutions: spend more....or go for California olive oil. Personally, I think when my bottle of (apparently, probably -not- authentic) olive oil runs out, I'll go the california route. easy enough.

I suppose this is sort of a public service announcement.

 

[Who Me]

The article I read had the following tips:-

Tip #1: Never buy anything that doesn't say "extra-virgin" on the label.
Tip #2: Look for a "harvest date" and an estate or mill name.
Tip #3: Ignore the "best by" and "bottled on" dates.
Tip #4: Look for a third-party certification seal.
Tip #5: If you see EVOO made in Australia or Chile, buy it.
Tip #6: Don't fall for fancy packaging and a high price tag.

It recommended using specialist stores or delies where there reputation for selling quality products mattered and where they would let you taste it before buying.

 

[GodsGrace]

Fake extra virgin olive oil is a fake green.
Real virgin olive oil is a muddy, army type green.
Only buy brand names.

Regular fake olive oil...some of it includes the oil pressed out of the pits of the olive, but the label should say this. I don't have any advice on this oil except to also buy brand names.

I don't use olive oil.

I use vegetable oil for frying..
and extra virgin olive oil for any cooking where the oil will REMAIN in the cooked product...also for salads, etc.

This is what fake extra virgin olive oil looks like:





This is real extra virgin olive oil:





The above pix shows cold-pressed first pressing olive oil.
It will be expensive.

Cold pressed but second run is also very good and will cost much less. This is what I use....

cont'd below

 

[GodsGrace]

cont'd

 

[Christ_empowered]

excellent, helpful posts, wondering.

when my "extra virgin olive oil" (i cant help but be quite suspicious) runs out, I think I'll switch over to a california blend. looks like the price is reasonable, especially since I use other oils for cooking, most of the time.

thanks.

 

[Truthfrees]

baby food and other foods made in china are toxic and dangerous - best to stay away from any food made in china - not just olive oil

 

[Edward]

So I've been buying fake olive oil too. It figures. I like to use olive oil because it can be heated to gigher temperatures than common oil without breaking down...plus it is better on food like salads and stuff.

I wonder if there is an easy test or two for the purity of olive oil?

After I read the health benefits of honey, I set out to start buying real honey for myself. I found a "real honey farm"mand bought some high dollar honey. But after it was delivered and I began using it, it didn't seem the same as the honey I remember eating as a kid. The honey when I was a kid would not hardly dissolve in drinks or over cereal. Hadda keep stirring it. This honey was...poof gone in a liquid.

So I googled it and there is a bunch of tests for honey. Real honey will burn. Real honey will not drip off of your fingernail when a drop is placed there. Real honey wont dissolve in cold drinks, only hot and even then will need re-stirred. Real honey wont turn blue if Iodine is added to it. You can pit real honey on a piece of notebook paper and light a lighter beneath it...the honey will boil and the paper will not burn

So I tested it. It failed every single test. And this honey from a real (so called) Honey Farm. On their website, they go on and on about the purity of their honey. So I wrote them a nice email. Asking if I could buy some real real honey. They said their records show that I did...So I told them about the tests that I had did and it failed the purity test. She got angry and said this is a family run bee farm my husband keeps the bees, and our honey is sold pure da da da. +I said, it can't be because it failed the tests. Maybe your husband is diluting it and you don't know it? It wont even burn. So she refunded my card and stopped responding.

The half gallon size of honey that I got from them was probably diluted with maple syrup or corn syrup. It poured from its plastic jug readily. It was very sweet, so I continued to use it up...and at the last 1/2" of honey in the container a funny thing happened...it stopped pouring. The last 1/2" was thicker than the honey above it was.

They diluted it, but over time on the shelf, the real honey settled to the bottom of the container, and would not pour even when I propped up the open jug over a mason jar to...run down in a few days...or so I thought. I left it a week and it never budged. I tested this portion. Well, whaddya know? it burns...

So it doesn't surprise me that olive oil is faked too. Greed all the way around.
Well, don't forget to bless your food before you eat. This will help it I think!

 

[Christ_empowered]

ugh. greed...avarice...human nature.

im not too bummed about the fake (foreign) olive oil. buy the california kind...now, that's easy enough, plus it keeps the business in the US...always a good thing.

now....you're diluted honey sounds ridiculous. id be extra bummed about that, personally, considering that you put in effort to track down wholesome goods. oh well. do you have a farmer's market near you? no guarantees, it seems, but...maybe a good bet?

 

[Edward]

There are a few farmers markets up here. I hadn't even thought about that one before. Thanks, Brother. I'm going to stop at one or two of them and have a look see.

Oh BTW, I seen a couple videos on youtube about false offerings in the farmers markets. The good veggies cost a wee bit more, it's the good food after all...so sometimes if they're running low on produce they simply slip out to the grocery story and switch packaging before returning to the farmers market...We have more organic tomatoes now! blah blah blah... They did a hidden camera thing and followed some of thes farmers around...to grocery stores!

Makes me want to plant a garden! I have plenty of space here.
What's stopping me is I don't know how to tell if my soil here is good for a garden>
Or if my dad used weed killers or anything like that which could make the soil not good for growing food. Does anyone here know how to tell if my soil is good for gardening?

I *think* scripture says to wait 7 years then you know it's ok...but am not sure.

 

[Christ_empowered]

if you're concerned about chemical contamination, i'd say...just plant pretty stuff. flower seeds are readily available. not edible, but...pretty, they'd add something to the landscape. i think...over time, having things growing in the soil helps change the composition of the soil. some plants are good 'soil fixers,' they'll rebalance things, over several years time. im not an expert, so you'd probably be well advised to consult The Google on what plants could help rebalance and maybe detoxify your soil.

other than that...i guess a local walmart or aldi might be the best bet, then. kinda sad that people, in general, are so dishonest. Aldi has some reasonably priced organic products, and I think they tend to source at least some of their products locally, so...there's that. You might not end up with the freshest honey ever, but you could probably get relatively low priced organic.