Mixtures with rapeseed oil, frauds with lampante oil… what is happening with olive oil?

If a few weeks ago we commented on the news about the “scandal” of “blend” olive oil, that is, a mixture of olive and sunflower oil, this week the withdrawal of 70,000 liters of olive oil due to adulteration has come to the fore with other oils, and even with lamp oil (although actually this latest news has been kicking around since March and has now “revived”).

What is happening with olive oil? The drought and the increase in production costs have led this sector (like many others) towards a rise in prices. A rise in this case of even 50%, which could increase throughout this year as the weather conditions continue unfavorable. Faced with this situation, those who in troubled rivers sharpen their wits and picaresque have not been long in appearing but, be careful! It is not the same that a “mixed” and correctly labeled olive oil is sold in a supermarket (something that, we like more or less, can be perfectly legal) than the fact that a gas station or a market sells a five-liter bottle with an alleged olive oil that actually contains oils unfit for consumption. The latter is a fraud and must be prosecuted very firmly by the authorities.

What has the olive oil fraud consisted of?

On the one hand, in some samples of the products withdrawn in Extremadura and Andalusia, a mixture of olive oil with other oils such as rapeseed oil or olive pomace oil was found.. These oils, even though they are of lower quality, are safe and can even be good alternatives when the price factor is a problem.. The point is that in no case was it indicated on the carafes that it was a mixture, but that they were deliberately giving us a pig for a poke, or rapeseed for an olive.

On the other hand, 13 samples were found where the extra virgin olive oil had been replaced by lampante oil, unfit for human consumption.

What is lamp oil?

Lamp oil is so called because it is a type of oil that was used as fuel for lamps.. It is a defective oil whose commercialization is prohibited. The “defect” can occur because it is made from olives that have been collected from the ground or are overripe, but also due to errors that occur in the production process, for example with machines.

The result is that we are faced with an oil that exceeds 2º of acidity that an olive oil can present at most (in the case of EVOO the maximum is 0.8º). An oil that we could detect when tasting it because its taste is metallic, rancid and/or vinegary.. This oil is not considered suitable for consumption since it is necessary to refine it.

Is lampante oil toxic?

A few years ago there was a hoax that spread like wildfire on WhatsApp, in which it was said, more or less, that they poisoned us with lamp oil. The hoax arose from the manipulation of an OCU report in which, of course, nothing similar was indicated.

As we mentioned, it is an oil that is not considered suitable for consumption because it is defective and does not reach the minimum quality standard.. But this does not mean that it is toxic, they are different concepts and it is important not to create unnecessary alarms in the population.

What do we do in the face of the rise in olive oil prices?

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, there are alternatives that, without having the same nutritional and organoleptic quality as virgin olive oil, are affordable and can also be considered healthy.. We are talking about alternatives such as olive pomace oil or high oleic sunflower oil. Another alternative is rapeseed oil, which in our country has little acceptance due to the terrible event that occurred in 1981 due to its deliberate adulteration with industrial oil for profit.. A massive poisoning that affected more than 20,000 people and claimed more than 300 deaths.

Rapeseed oil: friend or foe?

Rapeseed oil is unfairly “outlawed” in Spain. In fact, on the labeling of some foods that contain it, it is mentioned as “rapeseed oil” to avoid the damn word “rapeseed” from appearing.. It is an oil rich in monounsaturated fatty acids that, without having the polyphenols and therefore the additional nutritional benefits of EVOO, falls within the category of healthy oils within food guides, such as the famous Food Plate. Healthy from Harvard.

The fact that rapeseed oil is involved in this recent food alert for fraud and adulteration of olive oil has been able to “revive” some ghosts from the past. However, what happened now has nothing to do with the terrible intoxication of the eighties. Now that the prices of olive oil lead consumers towards other less healthy oils, it might be interesting to consider the possibility that rapeseed oil is once again an option in our supermarkets.