Unsure of what this meant exactly, but pleased with the price and the promises of various hype words and advertising jargon, my mother made the buy. Each recipe was comprised of 100% olive oil, made in 1 lb. Concerned about the levels of PAHs like benzoyprene in pomace oil, the Spanish government introduced a temporary ban on pomace oil in July, 2001 and halted all exports of pomace oil until tests were conducted and limits of the allowable amounts of PAH’s present in the oil were made concrete. This means that the oil doesn’t impart much taste to the food. The Spanish government introduced a temporary ban on olive-pomace oil in response to these findings. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those laid down for this category. It is also lower in nutritional value as compared to virgin olive oil and Agarwal recommends using it as a hair and skin oil instead of cooking purposes. These Olive Oil were small sizes, purchased off of retail store shelves at a local grocery store and a chain grocery store (generally, 8 to 16 ounce sizes; the smallest each brand had to offer). It is intended for refining for use for human consumption, or it is intended for technical use. With that said, however, in other olive oil producing countries which are non-IOC members (India, emerging Middle Eastern producers, several Latin American states, and even the United States where retail grades have no legal meaning) such stringent standards are not enforced and therefore the purchase of pomace oil products from these regions is not advisable. 82 Percent of Avocado Oil Adulterated, Mislabeled or Poor Quality, Study Finds. ", The Spanish government reported that high levels of contaminants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which can cause cancer, were found in some olive-pomace oil products. If you do happen to buy a bottle of pomace oil accidentally and are still resistant to the idea of using it as a cooking agent, you need not throw it away as there are a number of uses for it. 3. Further research revealed that the Spanish government, notorious for its strict regulation of olive oil products, had temporarily banned the sale of this grade of olive oil in July, 2001. I had never heard of pomace olive oil at all and after a quick survey of friends and family, I found out that I was not alone. Once the mechanical oil extraction of olive oil is complete, approximately 5–8% of the oil remains in the pulp, which then needs to be extracted with the help of solvents, an industrial technique used in the production of most other edible oils including canola, peanut, sunflower, etc. Crude olive–pomace oil and second extraction oil have to be refined for edible use (Brenes et al., 2004). If used in the kitchen at all, pomace oil is mostly used in industrial settings or in restaurants as a deep frying agent because of its high smoke point (240 degrees Celsius). Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Italy Set to Deal Major Blow to 'Agribusiness Pirates'. The purpose of processing the remaining pulp from olive oil production is to produce edible oil. Olive pomace oil is olive oil that is extracted from olive pulp after the first press. The contamination is believed to result from the process used to produce this oil. Cooperation in Fight Against Food Fraud Grows Among EU Countries. Benzopyrenes result from the incomplete combustion of the fats present in the olives. Using pomace oil as massaging oil can give you a healthy and smooth skin. [citation needed], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olive_pomace_oil&oldid=952810125, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 24 April 2020, at 05:17. Unfortunately, sometimes we buy olive pomace oil unintentionally, thanks to unethical producers who have been known to commit fraud by mislabeling cans or bottles of olive pomace oil. I was astounded by my own ignorance of this product and that of the general public, especially considering the potential dangers of consuming pomace oil from unregulated producers. This is because the International Olive Council defines olive oil as “the oil obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree, to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes” [1], The International Olive Council has classified olive pomace oil into the following categories:[1]. Pure olive oil is a blend of extra virgin and refined olive oil. But with all of the available olive oils on the market today, it’s in your best interest from both a health and culinary standpoint to stick to extra virgin. It has a more neutral flavor than pure or virgin olive oil, making it unfashionable among connoisseurs; however, it has the same fat composition as regular olive oil, giving it the same health benefits. As a result, specific standards have been set in various regions of the world limiting the allowable amount of benzopyrenes in pomace olive oil. It is fit for consumption, but may not be described simply as olive oil . Potential Dangers of Pomace Olive Oil: Cheaper is Not Always Better, During my mother’s most recent search for olive oil at a local grocer, she selected a cheaper option which she had never purchased before. See Also: Trade Group Sues Olive Oil Producer for Deceptive Labeling But it’s also important to note that the process by which pomace oil is extracted is no different to the process used to extract other conventional cooking oils such as corn, soy, sunflower, safflower, canola, or cottonseed and in comparison to these oils, pomace oil still retains olive oil’s basic lipid profile and therefore boasts high levels of oleanolic acid which has been proven to relieve states of hypertension and high blood pressure. Pomace contains about 2-8 % residual oil. So, just what is pomace olive oil, exactly? Beneficial For Hair. Warnings about possible carcinogenic properties of olive-pomace oil have been issued by the British Food Standards Agency as well as others. Benzopyrenes, being themselves highly reactive fats, can dissolve easily into cellular membranes and thereby enter a cell’s interior. Health Benefits Of Pomace Olive Oil 1. Refined olive-pomace oil (ROPO). In no case shall this blend be called "olive oil". Refined olive pomace oil. The smell, taste and texture of the imposter was nothing like extra virgin, and upon further inspection and a quick consultation of a number of sources, we found out that my mother, as well as a great number of other consumers complaining vehemently over the internet, had unwittingly purchased a bastardized product that wasn’t even olive oil — but something called “olive pomace oil.”. See Also: International Standard for Olive Oil (IOC)This very process, the same high heat technique used in producing canola, sunflower, and other vegetable oils, is why unregulated olive pomace oil sometimes contain harmful components known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) like benzopyrene, which research has shown to be highly carcinogenic and mutagenic. It is the lowest grade of oil and it represents only a tiny amount of the UK vegetable oil market, around 0.25% of the one million tonnes consumed each year. And although human exposure to PAHs is something of the quotidian — as they are 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. Olive oil tops the list for joint activities against counterfeit, adulteration and misleading labels.