Olive oil-is there a difference?

[chairborne commando]

I am suffering "sticker shock" over olive oil. My favorite brand-Colavita-
has nearly doubled in price.

A local grocer-QFC-has 1 liter bottles of Colavita for sale for almost $19
a bottle. I paid a little over $9 for a 1 liter in New Orleans, back in February.
(at the famous Central Grocery, home of the Muffuleta sandwich, btw)

Larry's Market's-a local grocer has a brand of olive oil called Olandi or something
like that, that retails for $4.97 for a 1 liter bottle of extra virgin olive oil.
I've never looked very closely at it. It might be that it's a domestic brand,
but even so...

So, I was wondering what everybody here thinks. Is all olive oil more or less the
same? In this case, I use it for cooking and bread dipping.

 

[ChainedLightning]

I use Pempeian brand olive oil, and I buy it at (gasp) Walmart, for around 9.00 for 64 ounces. I've tried several brands, and this is the one I like best.

The other stuff that I've bought that I haven't liked has been relegated to being body oil. Olive oil is very good for your skin.

 

[goatlady2]

there are big differences in olive oils not necearily brands but type - extra virgin cold press is the very first pressing and is usually green, it goes downhill from there to secend and third pressings using heat for extraction and even mixing various pressings together. To my palate big differences in taste also. I stick with extra virgin cold press personally.

 

[ChainedLightning]

Yeah goatlady - I stick with extra virgin cold press (the kind I get specifies "first cold pressing") as well.

 

[mzkitty]

Where I live, the large yuppie chain usually has good deals on all kinds of olive oil in the big gallon cans, the ones with the spouts you pull out. OR you can search out your little Italian import store, they would have even more at reasonable prices, I would think.

 

[Amazed]

I always look for first pressed on the label. Sometimes I can get a pretty good deal at Marshalls and TJ Max.

 

[aviax2]

I buy the Bertolli extra virgin olive oil at Sam's for $10.14 for a 2 liter bottle and it's first cold pressed. It's imported from Italy.

 

[ARUBI]

I use Bertolli extra virgin olive oil , too.

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USA: FDA to allow qualified health claim on olive oil labels
02 Nov 2004
Source: just-food.com



The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that food companies will be allowed to make qualified health claims about the monounsaturated fat contained in olive oil.

The FDA said there is limited but not conclusive evidence that suggests that consumers may reduce their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) if they consume monounsaturated fat from olive oil and olive oil-containing foods in place of foods high in saturated fat, while at the same time not increasing the total number of calories consumed daily.

"With this claim, consumers can make more informed decisions about maintaining healthy dietary practices," said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, Acting FDA Commissioner. "Since CHD is the number one killer of both men and women in the US, it is a public health priority to make sure that consumers have accurate and useful information on reducing their risk."

Although the research is not conclusive, the FDA said the following health claim would be allowed on food labels of olive oil and certain foods that contain olive oil:

“Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about two tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product [Name of food] contains [x] grams of olive oil.”


http://www.just-food.com/news_detail.asp?art=59089

 

[DocVan]

You live in Seattle? Don't you have a "Trader Joe's" grocery store there, as we do in Portland area (and they are all over California)?

Take a look at their Martinis Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive oil (First Cold Pressed). It is a product of Greece. It comes in a 1 liter (1 Qt. 1.8 Fl. oz) bottle. Quite good, green colored, costs just about $3. A bargain price, tasty, I use a lot of it to cook with, etc.

DocVan