🏷️ Refined olive oil
Oil refined to remove taste and smell defects, usually from lampante; acidity up to 0.3%.
Refined olive oil is oil obtained by refining virgin olive oils, most often lampante. Refining removes flavour and aroma defects and excess acids but does not change the structure of the fats. Free acidity after it is no more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams.
The cleaning takes several steps. First the oil is washed with hot water to remove gums. Then it is neutralised with lye or with steam at high temperature and deep vacuum. Next it is bleached with special clay and activated carbon, and finally deodorised with steam at about 200 °C. Natural phenolic compounds disappear along with the defects, and vitamin E usually decreases; it may be partly added back.
Refined oil on its own is not sold in EU shops. It reaches retail only blended with virgin olive oil under the name "olive oil — composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils". The acidity of such a blend cannot exceed 1 gram per 100 grams.
The label of the blend has to carry the words: "oil comprising exclusively olive oils that have undergone refining and oils obtained directly from olives". Stating the country of origin is not allowed for it. This is exactly what plain "Olive oil" on a bottle means, without the words "virgin" or "extra virgin".
How it connects to Olives
🏷️ Refined olive oil → kind of → 🫒 Olive oil → made from → 🫒 Olives
Links
- Made from
- 🏷️ Lampante olive oil
- What is needed
- 🧪 Sodium hydroxide (lye)
- Part of
- 🫒 Olive oil
- Similar and different
- 🏷️ Olive pomace oil
Frequently asked questions
What does plain "Olive oil" on a bottle mean?
It is a blend of refined olive oil with virgin olive oil, with acidity of no more than 1 %.
What does oil lose during refining?
Its flavour and aroma defects, and with them natural phenolic compounds and some of its vitamin E.
Why is there no pure refined olive oil in shops?
In the EU it may be sold at retail only blended with virgin olive oil.
Comparisons
What to read next
- 🏷️ Lampante olive oil — Mechanically obtained oil with taste defects; it is not sold for eating without refining.
- 🧪 Sodium hydroxide (lye) — An alkali; a weak 2–3.5 % solution of it removes bitterness from green olives.
- 🏷️ Olive pomace oil — Oil extracted from the pomace left after pressing, refined and blended with virgin olive oil.
Similar
🏷️ Virgin olive oil · 🏷️ Lampante olive oil · 🏷️ Olive pomace oil · 🏷️ Extra virgin olive oil
Sources
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII, Part VIII — olive oil categories
- EUR-Lex: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 on olive oil marketing standards
- International Olive Council: Trade Standard Applying to Olive Oils and Olive Pomace Oils, COI/T.15/NC No. 3/Rev. 22
- Lucci P. et al. Effect of the Refining Process on Total Hydroxytyrosol, Tyrosol, and Tocopherol Contents of Olive Oil. Foods 2020, 9, 292