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Comment by vixen99 | Hacker News Reader

Olive oil consumption in India is rising and numerous reports say that already in the US and Europe up to 60-80% of olive oil is not what it says on the bottle; in other words it's a fraud. Given that olive oil has a proportion of fatty acids in common with vegetable oils, sharp practice detection appears to demand a fully fledged laboratory. Many of us who love olive oil would give a lot for a home test. None of the ones I've seen to date seem to be reliable. I guess it's best to pay over the odds and assume it's not worth the supplier's time and money to adulterate a product already commanding a high price.

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This is once again why consumer protection laws are so important; if it's marketed as olive oil but the contents are not olive oil, the product should be removed from shelves.

This is why "Kraft singles" and "Velveeta" isn't called cheese, or "I can't believe it's not butter" and margerine isn't butter, or "Miracle whip" isn't mayonaise.

If it's honest on the packaging though - like over here we have "olive oil blends" for cooking - then it's fine.

Also also, olive oil is a fruit juice, technically, :p.

Velveeta is fake fake cheese.

"pasteurized process cheese spread" is fake cheese.

Velveeta is "pasteurized prepared cheese spread", which is made-up term with no definition, used for fake "pasteurized process cheese spread".

It shouldn't just be removed, they should be fined into oblivion.

>>I guess it's best to pay over the odds and assume it's not worth the supplier's time and money to adulterate a product already commanding a high price.

Or it's the opposite - if you can put £1 worth of oil in a bottle selling for £10, you've made a huge amount of profit. On the other hand how much can you really save on a bottle selling for £2? Yeah economies of scale and all that, but at the end of the day it's probably worth targetting the more expensive product(there's a reason why watch fakers make fake Omegas and Rolexes, and not fake casios(although I'm sure those exist too)).

Taste it! Especially if as you say you 'love olive oil', I don't understand - if you can't tell if it's adulterated with a 'flavourless' vegetable oil from taste, then what is it you love about olive over vegetable oil (or what are you worried about missing when it tastes good)? Its higher price, or its lower smoke point?

It's an oil for cooking with the best "health profile". If you need to push the smoke point use light olive oil. I use olive oil for everything and make do with the smoke point. I would like to be able to buy olive oil. The light olive oils have less flavor...

I don't think that's the commenter I replied to's concern though, given the 'love' for it and description of 'similar fatty acids' to vegetable.

I didn't mean that lower smoke point is a show-stopper, just that all else being equal a higher one is objectively better, as is a lower price.

I understood that I just don't think all things are equal and the smoke point was a red herring. I'm sorry it's the kind of HN comment I regret making. I just see pedantry on a detail I feel privileged to contemplate.

No worries, no harm! I cook with it a lot too, but because I like the taste. I'll be able to do so with renewed vigour now that I'm told it's healthier too! (I won't trouble myself with learning the possible nuances or even fact-checking that!)

But I also cook a lot of Indian style food, which doesn't really want or benefit from the flavour, and occasionally deep fry - which does call for a higher smoke point.

I'm pretty sure the taste/flavor/aroma that most people associate with olive oil is actually just rancidity. I also suspect that olive oil suppliers let the oil go rancid on purpose so that it attains that "flavor profile". My personal policy on olive oil is miss me with it - too shady.

If fresh, it should have a sort of grass like flavor that's spicy. Unfiltered olive oil is the best, but it doesn't last very long.

I used to think the same and then read about a study that lab tested a bunch of brands. The most expensive ones were more likely to be adulterated. It makes sense in a way. They command the highest margin, ie, highest reward for adulteration.

That said this was in a common US grocery store. It may not apply to really high end artesenal type olive oil generally bought by people who it wouldn't be worth to adulterate.

Also, it's worth noting that there a lot of places along the supply chain where things can be adulterated, and the incentives aren't all the same for every actor along the chain.

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