Published22. March 2024, 4:47 p.m
Stiftung Warentest: Only 4 olive oils are good – 3 products “possibly carcinogenic”
Stiftung Warentest tested olive oils and only four out of 23 performed well. This is also due to global warming.
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Rancid olive oil: that’s what it’s all about
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The quality of olive oil is decreasing and decreasing, as Stiftung Warentest says.
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Not every oil of the highest quality is enjoyable.
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One reason for this is that many olive trees in the Mediterranean region suffer from extreme heat.
“This is what climate change tastes like,” is the title of Stiftung Warentest’s new olive oil test. The German consumer organization tested 23 oils, only four of which performed “good”. Conclusion: Olive oil is becoming increasingly rancid and muddy, which also has to do with climate change.
Pay more for worse quality
According to Stiftung Warentest, the quality of vegetable oil and the harvest are declining because olive trees in the Mediterranean region are suffering from excessive heat, too little water and too many pests. Olive oil production in the EU fell by around 40 percent in the 2022/23 season. Olive oil now costs more on store shelves, even though its quality has declined.
In Spain, the olive oil harvest fell by over half in the last season.
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Spain’s olive oil harvest collapses by 55 percent
Spain normally produces around 1.5 million tons of olive oil per year, making it the world‘s largest olive oil producer. In the 2022/2023 season, production fell to 665,000 tons. The shortage and the higher price even led to thefts in warehouses and oil mills in the country, for example in Andalusia in southern Spain.
“Climate stress” leads to less healthy oils
“For the first time we have the impression that the climate crisis is reflected in a food test,” says test manager Jochen Wettach «Spiegel». According to Stiftung Warentest, “climate stress” can have a negative impact on health and reduce the polyphenol content in the oil. The chemical compounds are said to have a preventive effect against cardiovascular diseases. The oils from “Filippo Berio”, “Bertolli” and “Rewe Beste Wahl” were contaminated with potentially carcinogenic mineral oil hydrocarbons (Moah) in the test.
Not even “extra virgin” oils are convincing
Only two oils of the highest quality would have in the test The taste is convincing: the “Cosmo di Russo Caieta” from Italy and the “Rapunzel organic oil” from the island of Crete. Six of the “Nativ Extra” oils were rated “poor”. In addition, the “extra virgin” oils tested contained on average one sixth less of the health-promoting polyphenols.
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