HOW TO BUY GOOD OLIVE OIL — HONESTLY
Suisun Valley, California (January 5, 2016) – Called the Food of the Gods, olive oil, true certified extra virgin olive oil, is indeed a magical food. “This is an ancient food that deserves its place on the modern table,” say Mark and Ann Sievers of Il Fiorello Olive Oil Co. in Suisun Valley Northern California. “It’s a shame that other countries simply haven’t enforced their standards when it comes to extra virgin olive oil. It’s a matter of cost for them, but it’s a matter of purity and integrity for the consumer.”
A recent 60 Minutes (Sunday January 3, 2016) episode focused on the production and mis-labeling of poor quality oils in Italy. “Guy Campanile, the producer of that segment on olive oil, should come to California during fall milling season, to smell and taste how wonderful our oils are, says Ann Sievers. “It’s no wonder we fare very well in international competitions. Italy, Spain, France, and Greece make some good olive oils, but they usually keep the good oils for themselves. And as 60 Minutes showed, the multinational companies send adulterated oils out to the world.”
How can consumers tell the difference? Il Fiorello offers some simple advice: “If you find an inexpensive oil a grocery store, there’s a reason it is inexpensive,” says Mark Sievers. “It may be old, bad, or adulterated or all three. This is indeed a buyers beware, or we like to say buyer be aware business. If the label on the oil says it is from 5 different countries you can be assured it is not good quality olive oil, and probably not even much olive oil.”
The 60 Minutes segment documented the adulteration of Italian olive oils with highly refined (read processed with heat and chemicals) vegetable oil–a silent issue that consumers are only now recognizing. “It’s too bad,” says Ann Sievers. “If the label said olive oil and vegetable oil then consumers would know what they are buying. But then, they probably wouldn’t buy it.”
It takes an enormous effort to make extra virgin olive oil: a whole years’ worth of growing, expensive harvesters, large machinery. And the oil must be only olive oil, and have a balance of bitterness, fruit, and pungency when it comes out of the mill. If it’s not, it is fraudulent, and that is not extra virgin olive oil. Unscrupulous makers add other chemicals to try to make up for the defects. “If you bring me good olives, we can make beautiful oil,” Says Ann Sievers. “If you bring me bad olives you will have bad oil, or none as we will not mill bad fruit. Come visit us and take a tour of our farm and olive milling, (not pressing) equipment during harvest time. It’s an enlightening experience. The taste and aroma of fresh extra virgin olive oil will stay with you forever.”
According to the segment on 60 Minutes, because of the immense amount of adulteration and bad olive oil, consumers do not even know what good oil tastes like. Ann and Mark Sievers would like to change that. “Certified extra virgin olive oil is truly a special product and should be paired with great food,” says Mark Sievers. “Once you’ve tasted the real thing, you won’t ever want to go back to that stuff the big conglomerates sell.”
“It’s all about knowing your sources,” says Ann Sievers. “Take the time to know where you food comes from, how it is made and how to protect your health and dollars.”
About Il Fiorello
ll Fiorello is one of the leading premium olive oil producers in the USA, with more than thirty gold medals won at national and international olive oil competitions around the world. They grow twelve varieties of olives—all from Italian, Spanish, French and Greek olive trees—twenty minutes from the more famous Napa Valley. Il Fiorello offers tours, tastings, and a full range of visitor experiences in their olive oil visitor center in Suisun Valley, CA.
Ciao!
Ann Sievers & Paul Wagner, Balzac Communications & Marketing