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as far as I can tell, this really doesn't make any difference in the end

Unfortunately, that's not the case. When olive oil is adulterated with oils that have lower smoke points, and that adulterated oil is then used under heat, for cooking, the adulterant oils can break down and yield toxic compounds (e.g., aldehydes and hydroperoxids). [1]

EDIT: Also, as noted by a sibling comment, the Ω3:Ω6 ratios for some of the adulterant oils can be wildly different from olive oil, in sub-optimal, or even deleterious ways.

EDIT 2: And what about food allergies? Suppose someone with a hazelnut allergy buys hazelnut oil-adulterated olive oil (they're fairly similar in terms of fatty acid contents, so it's a somewhat common adulterant). Still think it doesn't make a difference?

(Also edited for tone.)

[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050617065306.ht...

EVOO already has a low smoke point as far as oils are concerned, processed soy/canola/corn/etc. oil all have significantly higher smoke points.

I can't imagine a scenario where a manufacturer would be adulterating EVOO with another oil that has a lower smoke point -- there just aren't any that would be make economic sense, as far as I know.

sunflower and safflower oils, the two most commonly substituted oils for olive oil (as far as counterfeiting goes), have a similar or _much lower_ smoke point than olive oil in an unrefined state. 225F, in fact. That's almost 100 degrees lower than olive oil.

If they used unrefined sunflower or safflower oil, then your olive oil would wind up with a lot of flavor of those oils, since unrefined oil is very flavorful. They would seem like horrible choices for adulteration, since it would be so obvious. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but do you have a source on that? I'm genuinely curious.

On the other hand, refined sunflower and safflower oil have higher smoke points than EVOO, and the flavor loss due to refining would let them blend in.

What? Safflower oil is flavorless. As for sources, there've been various articles about olive oil adulteration over the years...including one really long one from a few years ago that was popular on most aggregator sites - think it was also an NYT article.

The real issue, IMO, is the Ω3:Ω6 ratios. As someone who is trying to lower the amount of Ω6 in his diet, I can no longer trust olive oil

To quote an excerpt from that link:

" Virgin olive oil was, amongst all the oils studied, that which took longer to produce this type of compounds and produced a lower concentration of them."

I am going to assume (and hope) that that was an off-the-shelf sample, which includes the adulteration you are talking about. Unfortunately, there no further information available.

I think that means the opposite of what you think it means. That it takes virgin olive oils longer to produce fewer toxic compounds is a good thing.

Most Keto folks really care about what cooking oils they use because of different fat contents, but most of them aren't using olive oil and using coconut oil for everything anyway.

Personally I'd be really pissed about getting cut olive oil because usually it's Sunflower or Safflower oil and both (along with Grapeseed Oil) have massive quantities of highly-undesirable Omega-6. Might as well have gotten the substantially cheaper corn or soybean oils because they're just as bad for you.

" The flavor can't be counterfeited at all, so it doesn't really matter what's on the label . . . . You might have 5 different olive oils in your cupboard depending on what you're using them for, but you didn't buy any of them based on their label!"

Huh? What world are you living in? I mean, maybe you have five different olive oils in your cupboard and maybe their labels had nothing to do with the ones you chose. But do you really think that the average reader on HN (or average purchaser in US) chooses which brand of olive oil to buy by taste? Holy moly, out of touch. I suppose next you'll be telling us that a wine or winery's name or a wine bottle's label have nothing to do with why people choose it? Welcome to the world of "marketing".

It's a decent enough gamble on HN. Most of the younger east-coast and scandinavian techies that I know are very much into foodieism. "Foodie Dice" was an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign. Younger folks are starting to care a lot more about ingredients than the past few generations it seems.

I don't think you get it -- that's my point. If your "average purchaser in the US" can't tell the difference, then it won't matter to them anyways, right? And if they can tell the difference, then they're already buying by flavor.

EVOO isn't Coca-Cola. There's no standard flavor. It's the same as complaining about counterfeit wine -- if it tastes good for the price, does it ultimately matter if it's "counterfeit" or not? The flavor is the flavor.

If your "average purchaser in the US" can't tell the difference, then it won't matter to them anyways, right?

So, "Fuck 'em if they don't know enough to know they're getting cheated?" Nice.

How are you getting cheated if it makes no difference?

Because you miss out on the chance to get angry?

As other have mentioned the inferior oils might not be as healthy, this might be a reason to care not just 'cause'.

As I just amended my comment up-thread to say: allergies. Food allergies can kill you, and nut oils (nuts being a fairly common, and often severe allergen) are sometimes used used as an olive oil adulterant.

Adulterated olive oil isn't even labeled that it's adulterated, let alone what with.

Would the same apply to selling fake multi-vitamin tablets?

The (lack of) health benefits from using soy bean oil instead of pure olive oil may be significant, or at least misleading.

If you want an oil without any taste, how about canola oil? Canola oil is high in omega-3 and the mafia is not adulterating it with who-knows-what.

If you want actual olive oil, Trader Joe's Kalamata oil is probably the easiest to get ahold of. I haven't tried the California Estate oils, but I hear they are also good (if fresh)