How adulteration is detected

A high price and the ease of blending make olive oil vulnerable to adulteration. Three situations come up most often.

1. Blending in refined oil

Cheap refined olive oil is added to oil sold as extra virgin. Most people cannot detect this by palate — but in the laboratory the K270 and Delta-K values catch it. You now know why the Delta-K limit is so tight (≤ 0.01).

2. Blending in other vegetable oils

Sunflower, canola or soybean oil added to the blend. This is detected through fatty acid composition and sterol analysis; the profile shifts even at low blend ratios.

3. Misdeclared grade or origin

Virgin or lampante oil sold as "extra virgin", or oil from another country presented as local. The first is exposed by acidity and sensory analysis, the second by traceability records.

What can you do as a buyer?

• Watch the price. Producing olive oil is expensive; a price far below the market is telling you something.
• Look for a harvest date. Question a producer who doesn't print one.
• Prefer producers who publish analysis values.
• Taste it. If there is no fruitiness and no bitterness or pungency at all, it is probably not extra virgin.
• Have it measured. If in doubt, bring a sample — ours is free.

Why we opened our laboratory to everyone

The quality of oil produced in a region rises as it gets measured; unmeasured oil leaves its price to chance. We offer free analysis as a contribution to the industry, not as a marketing tool.