What are the standards for olive oil? What makes one virgin and another extra virgin?

Answer 1

The International Olive Oil Council assigned different designations to virgin olive oil:

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is virgin olive oil has low acidity under 1%. It is the oil of the highest quality, and boasts a perfect, fruity taste, and with a color that can range from crystalline champagne to greenish-golden to bright green. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil can be used in endless ways in the kitchen, and in Italy it has been a traditional ingredient in everything from antipasti to desserts. It is best used raw in salads, in order to enjoy its real flavor. Because of the time-consuming process required to manufacture extra-virgin oil, and its limited production volume, true extra-virgin olive oils are expensive. Thus, any inexpensive olive oil labeled "extra-virgin" is probably not authentic.
Beneath Extra-Virgin Olive Oil comes Fine Virgin Olive Oil. Like virgin oil, it is also cold-pressed. It has an acidity of max 1.5 percent. Quality oils are obtained when the olives are crushed as quickly as possible, since any storage would trigger a fermentation process in the fruit, making the oil produced increasingly acidic and undesirable in both flavor and aroma.
Ordinary Virgin Olive Oil is another virgin olive oil. It has acidity of max 3.3 percent. When properly processed, Ordinary Virgin Olive Oil maintains the purity of the fruit's flavor, aroma, and vitamins. The International Olive Oil Institute recommends using pure olive oil for frying, since the flavor of extra-virgin olive oil tends to break down at frying temperatures.
Testing to Determine Whether an Olive Oil is Extra-Virgin
Place a small quantity of the oil in a glass bowl and refrigerate it for a few days. If it becomes crystalline, the chances are good that it is a true extra-virgin olive oil. If it forms a block, it is most likely chemically refined oil that has had some first-pressed oil added to it.

Answer 2

Types of olive oil
Virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil.Refined olive oil. It’s confusingto a neophyte olive oil taster.

Virgin olive oil means the oil is created without the use of heat or chemicals,Golino says.

Refined olive oil means it was created by heating the olive oil.

Pomace oil means solvents were used to extract all of the oil from the olives and then heat was used to cook off solvents.
But even among the three, there are subcategories.

For instance:


Extra virgin olive oil means the oil has no defects and has a flavor that reflects the fruit.

Virgin olive oil means there may be minor defects and a less fruity taste






Olive oil is a combination of refined oil and virgin olive oil.

Answer 3

Extra virgin is from the 1st pressing of the olives ie the first squeezing. Virgin is from the 2nd pressing, they can also heat the olives to get the oil out. If you turn the bottle upside down then the right way round again, the longer it takes the oil to go back down into the bottle, the better the oil is.

Answer 4

Olive oil is a natural juice which preserves the taste, aroma, vitamins and properties of the olive fruit. Olive oil is made from the crushing and then subsequent pressing of olives. Extra virgin olive oil is derived from the first pressing of the olives and has the most delicate flavor and most antioxidants benefits (particularly vitamin E).

Answer 5

The grading on olive oil has to do with the number of pressings. They press th eolives to get the oil out. Eveidently the first pressing ins the extra extra virgin, the next would be the virgin and so on.

Retail grades in IOOC member nations
Since IOOC standards are complex, the labels in stores (except in the U.S.) clearly show an oil's grade:

Extra-virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil.
Virgin olive oil has an acidity less than 2%, and judged to have a good taste. There can be no refined oil in virgin olive oil.
Olive oil is a blend of virgin oil and refined virgin oil, containing at most 1% acidity. It commonly lacks a strong flavor.
Olive-pomace oil is a blend of refined pomace olive oil and possibly some virgin oil. It is fit for consumption, but it may not be called olive oil. Olive-pomace oil is rarely found in a grocery store; it is often used for certain kinds of cooking in restaurants.
Lampante oil is olive oil not used for consumption; lampante comes from olive oil's ancient use as fuel in oil-burning lamps. Lampante oil is mostly used in the industrial market
Virgin means the oil was produced by the use of physical means and no chemical treatment. The term virgin oil referring to production is different from Virgin Oil on a retail label (see next section).
Refined means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes (characterized as defects) and neutralize the acid content (free fatty acids). Refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil; the retail labels extra-virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil cannot contain any refined oil.
Pomace olive oil means oil extracted from the pomace using chemical solvents—mostly hexane—and by heat.

Answer 6

The International Olive Oil Council has set the following standards for Olive Oil and Sensory (Organoleptic) Assessment.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Free acidity not more than 1%, no sensory defects, median score for fruitiness greater than 0. Organoleptic rating (OR) 6.5 or more.

Virgin Olive Oil - Free acidity of not more than 2%, a median score for defects of not more than 2.5, greater than 0 for fruitiness. OR 5.5 or more.

Ordinary Virgin olive oil - Free acidity of not more than 3.3%, median defect score between 2.5 and 6, or less than 2.5 if fruitiness is 0. OR 3.5 or more.

Lampante Virgin Olive Oil - (not fit for consumption) Free acidity above 3.3% and defect scores above 6. OR less than 3.5.

Positive attributes are: Fruity, bitter, pungent.

Defects are: fusty, musty-humid, muddy sediment, winey-vinegary, metallic, rancid, heated or burnt, haywood, rough, greasy, vegetable water, brine, esparto, earthy, grubby, cucumber.

Answer 7

It is the way its pressed. First Pressing is Extra Virgin.

Answer 8

www.oliveoilsource.com
Everything you need to know about olive oil.

Answer 9

I think it has something to do with the first pressing versus the second pressing, and whether or not they were cold pressed, etc.