3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Buying Olive Oil

3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Buying Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil (“EVOO” for short) is on just about everyone’s shopping list these days. It’s been hailed as a superfood by Harvard Medical School, acclaimed by the Mayo Clinic, lauded by the Yale School of Public Health, and recommended by scores of leading MDs for its numerous health benefits.

“Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and You Might Just ‘Forget to Die’”

—Headline in Reader’s Digest

The Harvard School of Public Health just announced the results of a long-term study showing that slightly more than a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil per day is associated with a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (19% lower), cancer (17% lower), dementia (29% lower), and respiratory disease (18% lower). And replacing only about 10 grams/day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise, and dairy fat with the equivalent amount of olive oil is associated with a lower risk of mortality from all causes.

Wow! Those are figures that can’t be matched by any health supplement I know! And we’re talking about one of the most delicious foods on earth!

EVOO is also the rage for those on the paleo, keto and Atkins diets because it’s a delicious, zero-carb food that makes almost any meal more flavorful and deeply satisfying.

What’s more, according to the New York Times best-selling book Genius Foods , extra virgin olive oil “has been shown in large, long-term trials to protect the brain against decline and even improve cognitive function.” As reported in USA Today , “Temple University research shows extra virgin olive oil protects against memory loss, preserves the ability to learn, and reduces conditions associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”

As if all this weren’t enough, a delightful “side effect” of EVOO is that it makes your food taste delicious. As any great chef will tell you, fat is where the flavor is, and that’s why you always want a bottle of delectable harvest-fresh EVOO in your pantry.

Mistakes to Avoid When You Buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mistake #1: Buying stale or rancid olive oil off the shelf.

Olive oil, unlike wine, does not get better with age. Just the opposite. The olive, after all, is a fruit. And olive oil is a fruit juice. Like orange juice, olive oil tastes so much better fresh-squeezed. Because olive oil is so rich in protective polyphenols and antioxidants, it remains at its zenith of glorious flavor and nutritional potency for about six months after the harvest. After that, its flavor and nutrients degrade in a downward spiral.

This is why, as the culinary experts at America’s Test Kitchen put it, when it comes to olive oil, “the fresher, the better.”

The big problem for us consumers is that harvest-fresh olive oil is virtually impossible to find in supermarkets.

That’s because most olive oil is shipped to the US on slow-moving cargo ships. Then it often languishes in warehouses and on store shelves for many months or even years. As a result, olive oils in stores are often technically within their “best if used by” date but months beyond their six-month window of peak freshness, flavor and nutritional potency. And rancid olive oil can certainly irritate your gut, especially if you have gut issues.

Because of these and other factors that cause staleness and rancidity, a study from the University of California, Davis, found that 69% of imported olive oils labeled “extra virgin” sold in stores were so substandard, in no way could they qualify to be classified as “extra virgin olive oil,” the highest grade.

 

Forget the “Best Used By” Date on the Label

When you shop for olive oil, forget the “best used by” date on the label. It tells you nothing about how recently the olive oil was pressed. You need to find EVOO with a pressing date (also known as the “harvest date”) on the label. And don’t buy any EVOO with a pressing older than six months.

Unfortunately, the producers of mediocre, mass-market olive oils sold in stores do not put pressing dates on the label because they don’t want you to know how old, stale, or rancid their oils may be. In fact, you can verify this by checking the bottle in your own pantry right now. If you bought it in a store, the odds are overwhelming that the pressing date was intentionally omitted from the label. This is no coincidence, and it’s no way to buy your EVOO, not when freshness is the most critical factor in olive oil flavor and nutritional goodness.

My Recommendation: Just as you and I insist on fresh fruit, fresh veggies, fresh fish, and fresh eggs, we have every right to insist that our olive oil is fresh. That’s why I recommend buying online, directly from award-winning farms, where you can secure outrageously delicious olive oils fresh from the latest harvest. 

 

And they print their pressing date right on the label, which is standard practice among the finest producers. These farm-fresh olive oils are bursting with just-plucked-from-the-tree flavor and goodness. Try just one bottle of fresh-pressed olive oil from a good online company, and you’ll likely never go back to stale or rancid store-bought oils. Your first taste will be a revelation of how delicious EVOO is when it’s fresh from the harvest.

Below, I’ll tell you how you can try one of the world’s finest harvest-fresh EVOOs for free as part of a special marketing promotion (all you have to pay is $1 to help cover shipping, and there’s no obligation to buy anything now or ever) . [But hurry, this offer ends on Monday, May 30th at midnight.] It’s an excellent opportunity to discover how EVOO is meant to taste at its peak of freshness and flavor.

Mistake #2: Unwittingly buying counterfeit olive oils.  

As you’ve probably heard, fake, Mafia-made olive oils have been flooding U.S. supermarkets. If you’ve missed this frightening story, here are just a few of the articles you can check out online.

NBC News has reported that “fake olive oil is rampant.” The Wall Street Journal adds, “American grocery stores are awash in cheap, fake ‘extra virgins.’” I n an explosive exposé, 60 Minutes has cautioned that you face a “sea of fakes” when you shop for olive oil in stores.

Why Is This Happening?

Thanks to the many health benefits of authentic olive oil, demand is soaring worldwide. But pure extra virgin olive oil is quite expensive. Just as notorious crime families pocket fortunes by creating cheap knockoffs of designer clothing and handbags, they palm off fake olive oil as extra virgin. The New Yorker magazine has reported that the profits in counterfeiting olive oil are “comparable to cocaine trafficking, with none of the risks.”

Because America is the world’s largest consumer market, the crooks have successfully targeted U.S. supermarkets as a favorite dumping ground.

Cancer­-Causing Agents in Fake Olive Oils?

In his New York Times best-selling book, Extra Virginity , olive oil expert Tom Mueller warns of contaminants and even cancer-causing agents in fake olive oils, saying:

“Italian investigators have found hydrocarbon residues, pesticides, and other contaminants in fake oils, and pomace oil, a common adulterant, sometimes contains mineral oil as well as PAHs, proven carcinogens that can also damage DNA and the immune system. Then there’s the 1981 case of toxic oil syndrome in Spain, when rapeseed oil adulterated with an industrial additive, sold as olive oil, killed eight hundred people and seriously injured thousands more.”

This is why it’s so important to be sure you’re avoiding counterfeit olive oils cooked up by criminals whenever you buy olive oil. But how do you do that?

My recommendation: I strongly advise that you buy from a supplier whose oils are independently lab-certified to be 100% pure extra virgin. This gives you protection against all the fakes. The source I recommend below is one such conscientious provider.

Mistake #3: Thinking that all olive oils taste alike. 

If you’ve always bought your olive oil in a supermarket, odds are you’ve never experienced the extraordinary diversity of flavors that await you among the finest artisanal olive oils.

You see, ordinary mass-market olive oils sell in such huge volume that they must combine inferior olives from many large “factory farms” and different growing regions, with little regard for flavor compatibility . This typically results in a dull, lifeless flavor profile.

In contrast, award-winning artisans create their oils from olives grown on small boutique farms. These proud and dedicated family farmers are free to strive for flavor perfection from each different type of olive. This makes their award-winning creations as rich, complex, and distinctive as the finest wines, especially when you use them with your favorite foods.

For example, some olive varieties naturally possess a bright, spicy flavor. These oils are audaciously bold and pair magnificently with a hearty charred steak or grilled lamb. In contrast, other artisanal olive oils are pressed from olives that yield softer, more delicate nuances. These will perfectly complement—without overpowering—your delicate baked halibut. Still other olives naturally yield a greener, more herbaceous oil that will enhance your salad greens and veggies with farm-fresh flavor.

Discovering these delectable differences in fine artisanal olive oils is such fun. And, as any master chef will tell you, educating your palate in this way is one of the great secrets of elevating your favorite dishes to new heights of flavor and satisfaction that you, your family, and guests will immediately notice and love.

My recommendation: The moment you twist the cap off an outstanding just-pressed olive oil and inhale its harvest-fresh bouquet, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. In fact, now you can do it with one of the most divine artisanal olive oils I’ve ever tasted. It’s from the source I recommend below.  

So, Who Is My Favorite Source of the World’s Best Olive Oils?

Meet My Personal “Olive Oil Hunter,” T.J. Robinson

A one-time chef and gourmet food writer/editor, T.J. Robinson came up with the idea of hunting for the world’s best, freshest artisanal extra virgin olive oils—and flying them straight from the new harvest at their peak of flavor and nutritional potency directly to the kitchens of America’s top gourmet chefs, passionate foodies, and lovers of natural, healthy foods.

Robinson does this through his Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, which is strictly limited to just 20,000 members. He must limit the number of members in the club because his olive oils are sourced from the world’s most exclusive award-winning small family farms, and quantities are always limited.

Joining the club gives you direct access to the purest, freshest, and most flavorful olive oils from a wide array of gold medal-winning olive oil producers. These olive oils are personally hand-selected by T.J. Robinson exclusively for his club members and are available nowhere else on earth. They are out-of-this-world delicious! And, as I mentioned, when you join, there’s no commitment to buy anything else.

With T.J. as your personal Olive Oil Hunter, you’ll never again have to worry about unwittingly buying olive oil counterfeited by criminals who use fake and potentially harmful chemical additives. That’s because every olive oil T.J. imports is independently certified to be 100% pure extra virgin .

What’s more, as a club member, you also empower T.J.’s mission to support small farms run by families who respect the environment, uphold the highest standards in local agriculture, treat their workers fairly, and live in harmony with Mother Nature to produce the finest, 100% pure extra virgin olive oils on earth. So, this is a win-win proposition for everyone, including our Mother Earth.

My First Taste Blew Me Away

When T.J. heard about my passion for fresh, delicious, all-natural foods, he sent us three of his new oils, fresh from the harvest, for a taste test. I loved the rich complexity, the vibrant colors that ranged from deep green to golden, and the bright, sunny flavors. They were grassy, herbal, fruity, and intense—all at the same time, just like a complex wine. This was the real McCoy EVOO you get only in the best European restaurants and the back-road bistros around the Mediterranean.

And then came the oil’s remarkable finish: a distinct pepperiness at the back of the throat upon swallowing, the hallmark of the very freshest oil. This peppery tang is due to the oleocanthal , the inflammation-fighting component that can begin to disappear six months after pressing. This is yet another reason to buy your olive oil when it’s fresh. That peppery finish is an excellent indicator of how fresh and therefore how effective the olive oil will be in reducing your inflammation and strengthening your immune system.

Once I tried T.J.’s olive oils, I fell madly in love with them. I shared this with T.J. He was so pleased that he offered to give my community a special offer.

T.J.’s unique Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club is one of the most customer-friendly companies I’ve ever come across. Unlike some other clubs, there’s never a minimum commitment or obligation to buy anything. Every olive oil comes with a no-questions-asked, 100% money-back guarantee. And if you ever decide to ask for your money back on a given shipment, you don’t even have to return the oil. And his outstanding customer service team graciously takes care of your refund request immediately.

If you’d like to try this unique club and receive one of T.J.’s $39 bottles for just $1 to help cover shipping, I suggest that you act now, for two reasons :

First, T.J. and his Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club have reserved a strictly limited number—240 bottles (20 cases)—to share with my readers. Problem is, I’ve got many thousands of readers, so these 240 bottles should go very fast, and it’s first come, first served.

Second, his $39-Bottle-for-a-Buck offer expires Monday, May 30th , which will be here before we know it. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait until the next harvest season and hope he repeats the offer.

This is the kind of generous, fair-minded offer I like to present to you, my reader, for a product I truly love. And it’s an excellent opportunity, perhaps the first in your life, to experience the exceptionally vibrant and delicious taste of extra virgin olive oil when it’s fresh from the new harvest. As I’ve experienced myself, it adds new layers of flavor and deep-down satisfaction to your crisp salads and veggies, grilled meats, delicate fish, crusty hunks of bread, and your other favorite foods.

The publicity this oil is getting is quite something. Foodies, celebrity chefs, and food writers are raving about it. For example, Larry Olmsted, the award-winning food and travel journalist, recently wrote in his New York Times best-selling book, Real Food/Fake Food :

“I now get most of my oil from T.J. Robinson’s Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, and every time I open a bottle, my kitchen literally fills up with the smell of fresh crushed olives—the scent explodes out of the bottle. Just breaking the seal transports me to Italy or Spain or Chile.”

When you click on the link below, you’ll see similar comments from many other olive oil lovers as well. If you’re interested, try a bottle for just $1, taste for yourself, and discover how EVOO is really meant to taste.

Extra Bonus If You Respond Now

Click on the link below, and T.J. will toss in an extra bonus. It’s his fabulous ebook, 16 All-Time Favorite Recipes for Health and Longevity . As a professionally-trained chef, and in his role as the Olive Oil Hunter, T.J. has dined all over the world. In his travels, he’s collected hundreds of outstanding recipes. For this collection he’s chosen the 16 recipes that have received the most compliments from friends, family, and members of his Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club.

From mouth watering appetizers you can whip up in less than five minutes…to sublime main courses…to one of the most delicious desserts you’ll ever bite into (Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies!), these will take their place among your favorite go-to recipes.

Here are some comments from other doctors about this olive oil:

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 “T. J. Robinson secures what I’ve found to be the purest, healthiest, and best-tasting olive oils on the planet. The result is extra virgin olive oil like none I had ever experienced before. They are remarkably bright, flavorful, fresh, and brimming with off-the-charts nutritional value. They are from the top award-winning farms in their native lands and never available anywhere else in the U.S. Thank you, T. J.”

Joe W. Frazer III, MD, specialist in geriatrics and antiaging medicine.

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I fell in love with these olive oils at the Mindshare seminar, and I’ve been a consumer ever since. Italian is my blood and I want all the health benefits of olive oil so I seek out the best. I have to say this right up front, T.J. Robinson has provided me with the best olive oils I’ve ever tasted.”

—Dr. Daniel Pompa, Founder of True Cellular Detox™, Revelation Health & Pompa Wellness  

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“These fresh-pressed olive oils take your favorite dishes to new heights of flavor. I know this personally because one of the ways I relax is by puttering around my kitchen. I happily drizzle these scrumptious oils over my Greek shrimp salad, bay-steamed halibut, baked wild salmon, balsamic chicken salad, julienne green beans and other veggies, just to mention a few of my ‘specialties of the house.’

“And it’s not just the fresh-pressed flavor I’m after. These harvest-fresh extra virgin olive oils are bursting with off-the-charts levels of polyphenols and antioxidants. These are among the nutrients that make olive oil renowned for its health benefits. And they are most abundant when olive oil is harvest-fresh.

“In studies, these nutrients have been shown to be associated with lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. They may also help protect you against other conditions such as Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and even certain cancers.”

—Ronald Hoffman, MD , author of numerous books and articles for health professionals and the public. He is the host of the popular nationally-syndicated radio program Intelligent Medicine, and the Internet podcast of the same name.

When you click on the link below, you’ll see similar comments from many other olive oil lovers across America.

[Offer ends at midnight on Monday, May 30th]

Dr. Vincent Pedre
Dr. Vincent Pedre  is a leading authority in gut health, a bestselling author, and a medical doctor with a holistic approach to wellness. With over two decades of experience, he is dedicated to helping people achieve optimal health through personalized nutrition, lifestyle adjustments, and integrative medicine. 

Dr. Pedre offers personalized health consultations, as well as the comprehensive Gut-Brain Mastery Program — 6-Week Stress-Less Challenge — which is designed to help individuals biohack their brain health through their gut to reduce stress, boost mood, improve gut health, and achieve rockstar resilience.
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