Quality grades of olive oil

Why quality grades exist

Olive oil is divided into commercial grades across the EU. Classification is based on chemical parameters (above all free acidity and peroxide value) and on a sensory assessment by a panel. The differences between the grades are considerable – in taste as in price.

Refined olive oil

The lowest grade on the market. Refined oils are obtained under heat (up to 240 °C) and with the help of solvents, often from the residues of the milling process. Refining strips the oil of its typical flavour and of most of its polyphenols. Products labelled simply as “olive oil” usually consist of refined oil with a share of virgin oil for flavouring.

Lampante oil

Lampante oil comes from spoiled olives, often picked up from the ground or already fermenting. It is not marketable for direct consumption, must be refined and may only reach the market afterwards – blended with virgin oil.

Virgin olive oil

“Virgin” means unadulterated. An oil is virgin when it is obtained directly from olives solely by mechanical means and does not come into contact with chemical solvents. Free acidity may be up to 2.0 %; slight sensory defects are permissible.

Extra virgin olive oil

The highest legal quality grade. Requirements: exclusively mechanical extraction, free acidity of no more than 0.8 %, no sensory defects in the panel test, and cold extraction – the temperature must not exceed 27 °C during milling and malaxation.

Extra virgin high polyphenol

Not a separate legal grade, but a quality designation within “extra virgin”: oils from a very early, green harvest with a laboratory-proven, particularly high polyphenol content. Only from at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and derivatives per 20 g of oil may the approved EU claim on protecting blood lipids from oxidative stress be used. Such oils taste noticeably more bitter and pungent – that is intentional and the direct sensory expression of the content.

What to look for when buying

• Harvest or bottling year on the bottle (olive oil is a freshness product).
• Origin as specific as possible: region, mill, variety – not just “EU blend”.
• Dark glass or tins instead of clear glass.
• Bitter and peppery is a good sign, not a bad one.