OLIVE OIL LITERACY
February 11, 2026
While olive oil continues to fascinate us with its surprising and unknown properties every day, a new concept has recently emerged: olive oil literacy.
The Turkish Language Association dictionary defines "literacy" as "a person who can read and write, who has received an education." Based on this definition, olive oil literacy can be expressed as someone who "truly" knows about olive oil.
Have you ever asked yourself how well you really know olive oil?
Let's review the information. The aim of this article is certainly not to present olive oil from A to Z, as attempting that would require volumes, not just pages. Those who work with olives and olive oil know how profound these two products are. As they research, they seek to uncover deeper knowledge and make discoveries. The deeper they go, the more they realize they're entering an ocean of information. In short, the olive is a tree with depth, and simply saying "I know" about its products will only close you off to further knowledge. Therefore, let's refresh our understanding.
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According to the International Olive Council standards, olive oil is basically divided into two categories: natural and not suitable for direct consumption. " Natural Olive Oils " are further divided into four categories: " Extra Virgin ," " Peganum Virgin ," " Vinyl Virgin " (not available in the EU or Turkey), and " Crude/Refining Olive Oil ."
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As the ranking indicates, "Extra Virgin Olive Oil " is the highest quality olive oil. In addition to a free fatty acid content of no more than 0.8, a peroxide value below 20, and many other chemical criteria, it must also be sensorially flawless and have a fruitiness higher than 0.
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For " Natural First Grade " (Virgin Olive Oil), the free fatty acid content must be a maximum of 2.0, the peroxide value must be below 20, and in addition to many other chemical criteria, it must be slightly defective sensorially and have a fruitiness greater than 0.
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" Ordinary Olive Oil" is a type of olive oil that, although not commercially sold in our country, has a market abroad; it has the same other characteristics but a free fatty acid content of no more than 3.0.
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“ Crude/Refined Olive Oil ” (Lampante Olive Oil) has a free fatty acid content higher than 3.0, and other chemical values are not considered; it is also sensorially defective.
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"Refined Olive Oil " refers to olive oil that has undergone a chemical refining process to reduce its free fatty acid content to 0.3%, and a deodorization process to remove unpleasant odors, making it suitable for consumption.
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“ Riviera Olive Oil ” is olive oil that is produced and sold by adding approximately 5-10% natural olive oil to refined olive oil.
Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, must not only have suitable chemical properties but also "sensory properties." That is, extra virgin olive oil should be perfect in terms of aroma and taste, and its "fruitiness," "bitterness," and "pungency" values should be above "0," and it should smell like raw olives picked from the tree. Although the human nose and palate have an innate ability for taste and smell, it is possible to train them to perform sensory analysis. Training activities are organized on olive oil tasting.
“ Early harvest ” refers to the timing of olive harvesting. Olive growers used to start harvesting after the first rain or even the first frost. However, later studies, primarily due to factors such as olive oil quality, led to the harvest being moved earlier. Essentially, early harvesting means harvesting the olives during or just before the color change stage. The fruit contains more antioxidants at this stage, and the quality of the resulting olive oil improves. However, the oil yield is lower at this stage. Because the oil content increases while the amount of antioxidants decreases, we have to make a choice: quality or quantity? Quality means olive oil with high polyphenol content (8-10 kg of olives for one liter of olive oil), while quantity means high oil yield (3-5 kg of olives for one liter of olive oil). Therefore, early harvest olive oil always commands a higher price.
The method called " stone pressing ," but actually known as "stone milling," "pressing," or "wet pressing," is, so to speak, a romantic pursuit. This is because the stone milling method, used thousands of years ago to produce olive oil from olives, is neither hygienic nor healthy. The olives are ground into a paste by a stone that is never cleaned, in contact with plenty of oxygen. During this process, the beneficial substances in the olive are lost before the olive oil is even extracted. Thanks to the blessings of technology, continuous systems allow olives to be produced both hygienically and without contact with air.
" Cold-pressed " olive oil means that the temperature of the olive paste in the mixer during production is equal to or lower than 26 ° C. You can obtain this information from the olive oil producers or from the label.
" Unfiltered " olive oil is fresh olive oil and has a cloudy appearance because it has not been filtered. It is more intensely fruity. However, it should be consumed within 2-3 months. Otherwise, the sediment (pulp) that accumulates at the bottom of the packaging, being organic matter, can enter the fermentation process and spoil the oil at the top. This sediment is actually the olive skin, flesh, and pit.
" Olive milk " is ABSOLUTELY NOT a real thing. It's a term invented purely for marketing purposes and, unfortunately, has attracted consumer interest. However, it has no basis in the Turkish Food Codex or the global market. What is sold as "olive milk" is still olive oil.
Since ancient times, the olive oil that accumulates and is released during the crushing of olive fruit in stone mills has been called " belly oil " or " dough oil ." Because this olive oil had little contact with water and air within the technology of the time, it was considered valuable and given especially to pregnant women, women who had recently given birth, and the sick. Since the quantity of this olive oil was very small, it was either bought or stolen by the mill owner. In the ancient Klazomenai olive oil mill system, the " thief's pit ," a part used to steal this belly oil, is clearly visible. With today's technology, it is possible for a good company to produce 100% high-quality olive oil.
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Olive oil may be perceived as expensive compared to other vegetable oils, but it is economical because of its high moisturizing properties. For example, if a recipe calls for 3 cups of vegetable oil, you can use 1 cup of olive oil instead for a more delicious result.
When it comes to consuming olive oil for health purposes, you should choose extra virgin olive oils with high polyphenol content. Polyphenol is a word that represents all the antioxidants in olive oil. Olive oils with 130 or more polyphenols, a free fatty acid content below 0.3, and other defined chemical properties are classified as ultra premium worldwide.
If you buy in bulk, we recommend storing your olive oils in sealed packaging in a cool, dark, and odorless place. Olive oil is easily affected by light and heat. We advise transferring the product from tin cans to glass bottles immediately after opening. Plastic can leach into the olive oil, leading to the ingestion of some carcinogenic substances. Therefore, never store olive oil in plastic. At room temperature of 22-23 ° C, your olive oil will only retain its freshness for about 10 days. After that, it will gradually begin to deplete its antioxidants. When the antioxidant level decreases significantly, it will transform into an oxidized or rancid olive oil that smells almost like pastel or oil paint.
Olive oil from businesses that store it in stainless steel tanks in a climate-controlled environment at 18 ° C, with the air gap sealed with nitrogen or argon gas, can be safely consumed for two years.
Olive oil packaging and labels are carefully designed to allow you to communicate directly with the producer. When you buy the product and look at the label, be sure to pay attention to the brand, the producer's business registration number, address, contact information, and the recommended consumption date. If this information is missing, the reliability of the product you purchased is questionable. Unfortunately, many mixed products, referred to as "white tins," are sold under the name "extra virgin olive oil," deceiving consumers. Those who do this use the name olive oil to buy canola, cottonseed, and other oils cheaply and sell them expensively, stealing customers from genuine olive oil producers. Furthermore, because they sell products that cost them 3 TL for 15 TL, while you think you're buying cheap olive oil, you're actually helping these fraudsters unjustly earn five times the profit. "There is no such thing as cheap olive oil, only expensive vegetable oil." Be careful!
As I mentioned earlier, olive oil is a complex product, and scientists discover new properties of it every year. As consumers, it is our duty to give olive oil, which is produced with great dedication, the value it deserves.
