The Pomace Olive Oil: Pour It

In Your Salad, for Your Health

 

A caricature that went with an opinion article in the New York Times by Nicholas Blechman not long ago, depicts an olive in a black circle with the traditional  crossbones underneath, and another one with an olive holding a gun to its head, all of which pointing to the conclusion that pomace olive oil is ‘poisonous’ if not suicidal. This, of course, and another article written about this type of oil in Olive Oil Times reveal a kind of journalism which is irresponsible and far from factual!

In its New York section of Opinion, the New York Times on January 26 2014 printed this series of caricatures by Blechman dubbing the purchase of olive oil from Italy as ‘Extra Virgin Suicide’ and cautioned that “while Olives that are used in substandard oil are typically taken to mills days, weeks or even months after being picked — not “within hours.”

“The graphic “continues the item in the NY Times, “conflated two dubious practices that can be found in parts of the olive oil industry. Some producers  mix olive oil with soybean or other cheap oils, while others mix vegetable oils with beta carotene and chlorophyll to produce fake olive oil; the two practices are not usually combined.”

“Olive oil bottled in Italy and sold in the United States may be labeled “packed in Italy” or “imported from Italy” — not “produced in Italy” — even if the oil does not come from Italy. (However, the source countries are supposed to be listed on the label.)”

“A 2010 study by researchers” concludes the article “at the University of California, Davis, found that 69 percent of imported olive oil labeled “extra virgin” did not meet, in an expert taste and smell test, the standard for that label. The study suggested that the substandard samples had been oxidized; had been adulterated with cheaper refined olive oil; or were of poor quality because they were made from damaged or overripe olives, or olives that had been improperly stored or processed — or some combination of these flaws. It did not conclude that 69 percent of olive oil for sale in the United States was doctored.”

We wonder where the New York Times got hold of this information as late as this year, when in 2012, the executive order of the European Committee looking into irregularities in the trade presented its findings and set the rules by which the Trade must abide by, a seven-page document signed in Brussels by the president of the committee, none other than Jose Manuel Barroso and strictly enforced. 

But what is the reason behind this vicious campaign against the process called Pomace, a process employed not only in the production of every type of oil in existence, but which offers benefits which are hardly present in Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive oil.  To begin with, the word impostor referring to the pomace olive oil is unfair and downright libelous and these publications who dared write such inaccuracies should be held responsible for their erroneous ‘facts.’

Also outrageous is the claim of Olive Oil Times that ‘although human exposure to PAHs is something of the quotidian-as they also created with the combustion of fossil fuels, burning trash, agricultural fires industrial processes, tobacco smoke and vehicle exhaust emissions-our exposure to PAHs should be as limited as much as possible, especially when ingesting food.’ In the same sentence however, Olive Oil Times explains how ‘specific standards have been set in various regions of the world limiting the allowable amount of benzoperenes in pomace olive oil. ‘ And continuing, the article itself states that ‘within the European Union and in member states of the IOC, the limit is 2 parts per billion, or 2 micrograms per kilogram, as decided in Resolution RES-1/93-IV /05 Madrid in November of 2005, [6].’

Which in few words is self-explanatory providing proof that even if there were sporadic problems perpetrated by some unscrupulous merchants and manufacturers, the resolution of 2005 has eliminated them once and for all! So far as the quotidian, everyone knows that these hazards will be with us as long as there is humanity. 

If the public was aware of how do you process corn, sunflower, soy, cottonseed  and canola to produce the oil that put on your dinner table, they would not give the ‘reports’ by newspapers, magazines and newsletters a second look , since they’d know how bogus these ‘accounts about pomace Olive oil are.

Is this a shocking revelation? Not really. Everyone knows that in order to extract oil from these products you must use the pomace Process. So if you buy corn, sunflower, soy, cottonseed or canola oil for your salad, why won’t you buy the olive oil which is produced by the same method? How can possibly olive oil extracted in this fashion be dangerous when every other kind of FDA-approved oil in the market is good for consumption? There’s only one kind of pomace Process and the leading European producers of this type olive oil, Spain, Italy and Greece, adhere to the strict rules imposed by the European Union.

In fact, instead of downgrading talk about pomace olive oil by some adversaries who call it unfit for the kitchen table, they should be writing about the many benefits one can derive from this oil as long as the rules of its production are strictly observed. And it is widely known that the Mediterranean countries that grow the olive and process it into oil are very well versed in its production and distribution. One only has to listen to one of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject to be convinced of the very good qualities of the product and the benefits it provides to the consumer provides, health-wise and otherwise.

The worldwide authority on such matters is Nikos Katsaros, former president of the Hellenic Food Authority and current Scientific Collaborator of NCRS Demokritos. He can explain better than anyone the entire production of the oil, from the gathering of the fruit to the production of the initial oil extracted in the first process which assumes the name Virgin (0.8% < acidity < 2.0%) or Extra Virgin oil, (acidity  < 0.8%) or as Lampante (acidity > 2.0%.)

It has been scientifically proven that since the pomace olive oil has been extracted in the very same process as the cooking oils mentioned in the preceding sentence, it is advantageous to rather use the olive oil of the same process since it features benefits over the other oils. It is a fact that pomace olive oil retains the olive oil’s basic lipid profile and therefore can boast high levels of oleanolic acid, an agent proven to relieve states of hypertension and high blood pressure, advantages absent in the rest of the oils.

In order however to remove its high acidity  (neutralization,) its color (decoloration,) and its odor (deodorization,) and call it Refined Olive Oil, we must follow the pomace process, the same  process followed in any refineries that process corn, sunflower, soy, cottonseed  and canola oils.

What then are the critics of pomace-processed olive oil are talking about? Why are they so vehemently criticizing a method of processing, knowing fully well that the solid residue that remains after the extraction of the Virgin and Extra Virgin oils contains contains as much as 10% of the very oil which has been extracted.

To briefly describe the process called pomace, we must illustrate how refineries dry the solid residue that contains the rest of the oil in high temperatures to remove the remaining water and following this step, they carry out a solvent extraction method by which they obtain the rest of the oil. The product that emerges from this process is called crude pomace olive oil. Then comes the process to make the crude olive oil fit for consumption, which is the process by which the high acidity is eliminated, its coloring is also removed and it is deodorized. This is the product that assumes the name pomace olive oil.

It is then obvious that, if this is a product that derives from the olive fruit, (its flesh, kernel and skin as in the case of the Virgin or Lampante oil) it is nothing else but olive oil, produced by the process called pomace. But let’s find out once and for all what is the pomace method. It is a method by which the solid remains of the olive, including the skin, pulp, seed and stem are first extracted by a solvent (hexane) following which the product is heated so the solvent evaporates totally and cleanly, without leaving any traces or harmful residue. The hitch here is that the heating method employed does not ever exceed 90 degrees Celcius (or 194 degrees Farenheit.) The use of this system assures that the final product does not contain any polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs.

The risk of benzopyrene (PAH) contamination occurs only when the heating method used to evaporate the solvent (hexane) exceeds 300 degrees Celcius (572 degrees Farenheit) which is almost unthinkable in the controlled conditions under which the pomace method is undertaken. But theoretically speaking, if that happens and temperatures rise to such degree, it can cause a rapid accumulation of PAHs, which could possibly be mutagenic and carcinogenic substances.

However, as we explained earlier, the European Union along with the International Oil Council (IOC) anticipating such improbable situations by their olive oil-producing member nations, have set standards, with limits set to two parts per billion  or two micrograms per kilogram, as decided by the resolution  RES 1/93-IV/05 Madrid on November 2005.

Apropos, let’s examine some of the myths surrounding olive oil of any kind, vs. seed oil.

1)       Olive oil of any kind contains more calories compared to seed oil.

Not true! Olive oil and seed oil of any kind contain almost the same number of calories.

2)        Olive oil of any kind is not so easily digested as seed oil.

Not true! Olive oil of any kind is digested than seed oil. Also, olive oil of any kind is digested almost to an extent of 98% and, as a result of that, the fatty acids absorbed stimulate the secretion of bile from the gall bladder among other benefits

3)       Seed oil of any kind is better for frying than any kind of Olive oil.

Not true! In olive oil of any kind, the presence of more monounsaturated fatty acids  makes them more stable to heat as opposed to polyunsaturated fatty acids present in seed oil. In addition, olive oil of any kind contains more antioxidants and vitamin E that increase their resistance to oxidation as opposed to seed oil that is oxidized upon heating to produce oxidized compounds responsible for arterial, heart problems, high blood pressure etc.

Olive oil contains more monounsaturated fatty acids, more antioxidants, more vitamin E and vitamin K and more trace metals needed for our body as opposed to seed oil of any kind. The above-mentioned substances present in olive oil of any kind assist in:

 

·         The reduction of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood.

·         Stabilize the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood.

·         Reducing the triglyceride level in the blood.

·         Preventing arteriosclerosis and heart problems.

·         Regulating blood sugar level in diabetic people.

·         The therapy of people with ulcers of the stomach and the duodenum.

·         The prevention of cancer.

 

Finally, olive oil of any kind is not genetically modified neither is contaminated with genetically modified residues. In Greece, not even one acre of land is used to produce GMOs.

To repeat one more time, the above are not only the property of Virgin or Extra Virgin olive oil. The include oil processed in the pomace method which proves that all olive oils are equally fit for consumption without any fear.