Is it dangerous to cook and fry with olive oil?

Question

I cook usally with oliveoil also for stirfry but today my friend told me it may cause cancer is it true?

Thanks for your all informative ansewrs I will continue using oliveoil!

Answer 1

i have used olive oil in my cooking for many years and even my doc advised me to use olive oil. as of yet there is no statements as to it causing cancer. it is the most healthy oils to consume not just in cooking but to use instead of butter or margarine on toast and is better then most oils on a salad. like wilted lettuce salad that calls for hot bacon greese to be pored on it to cause the lettuce to wilt. i am a retired chef using olive oil instead of veg oil has helped my hdl and ldl to get more in line and helped me to lose over 30 pounds of corse not consuming fried foods fried in veg oil was the best for my health. it is best to use extra virgin olive oil rather then the other presses of the olives extra virgin is from the first press of the best olives and the rest are from repressing and from every body and his brothers olives there are only certin farmers who can bring in there olives for extra virgin oil and everyone else must wait untill later to have theres pressed and there oil is called olive oil no grade the nice rich green olive oil is the extra vergin because it is only olive oil no water and no second pressing of the olives. i hope this helps your qustion. dave

Answer 2

Cooking with Olive Oil

Cooking with olive oil is like cooking with wine. Never use a wine or olive oil that does not taste good to you. An inferior one will leave an aftertaste. If you do the taste test and compare the "pure" to the "extra-virgin" and the you'll understand the difference.

When cooking with olive oil, save your extra-virgin expensive oils for salads, dressings, and vinaigrettes. You can also drizzle it over slices of crusty bread or onto open-face sandwiches. Use it on a baked potato or add it to mashed potatoes instead of butter. Extra virgin olive oil tastes great on cooked vegetables or brushed onto fish or meat before serving.

When sautéing or frying, use either a combination olive oil (one that is simply a blend of extra virgin and regular olive oil) or a straight olive oil.

For deep frying, the olive oil grade "olive oil," is excellent because it has a higher smoke point (410º F) than virgin or extra virgin oils.

Marcella Hazan who wrote the cookbook called Marcella Cucina, wrote the following:

"The taste of a dish for which you need olive oil will be as good or as ordinary as the oil you use. A sublime one can lift even modest ingredients to eminent heights of flavor; a dreary oil will pull the best ingredients down to its own level. Partial clues to the quality of the olive oil you are buying are supplied by the label and the price, but ultimately, the only way to determine which one, among those available, is right for you is to taste and compare."

Answer 3

I have never heard of olive oil being carinogenic (cancer causing). I think with the huge interest in healthier living, if ANYONE thought olive oil was likely to cause cancer we would ALL know about it.

I suspect your friend has perhaps grabbed the wrong end of a conversation - OR misunderstood something. Perhaps ask them where they found this information and then check it out?

Answer 4

There are a lot of myths circulating about olive oil. This is one.

Olive oil does not lose its benefits when heated. Olive oil does not become "dangerous" or cause cancer when heated. Heating olive oil does not change it into a saturated or trans-fatty oil. Cooking in olive oil does not reduce the nutritional value of the food.

Answer 5

I always cook with olive oil, it's supposed to be better for you than any other oil. Now anything and everything "may" cause cancer, even the air we breath.

Answer 6

no matter what kind of oil u're using, once it heated (hot, not warm), it will be as bad as any other things. olive oil IS healthy and "pretty" good for ur body if u just sprinkled it on ur salad or already-cooked pasta dishes.

about cancer....even if u had a bbq using coal will cause cancer, sunbathing can cause cancer, smoking can cause cancer.
we're not living in the safe-natural world anymore....

Answer 7

No and I never heard of that either. Olive oil is very healthy to cook with.

Answer 8

I have never ever heard that, and I've been using olive oil for over 10 years. I don't fry with it however, I just use it for dressings and sauteeing.

Answer 9

No, as I live in Italy everyone use Olive Oil to cook. But it is all depend how you cook, and in which quantity.

Answer 10

Ive never heard that, I only cook with olive oil, its healthier than anything else...