How long should I keep extra virgin olive oil?
Here’s the thing: In North America we consume an average of 1 litre of EVOO per year. In the UK that number is 2 litres, in Italy and Spain it’s 12 and in Greece they consume an average of 25 litres of olive oil annually. When there is opportunity to use olive oil at every meal time – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and when there are great reasons for adding olive oil into your diet, the question shouldn’t really be how long can it last, but rather how fast can I get to the bottom of this bottle? Well, unfortunately North America is the dumping ground for bad olive oil from European markets. We don’t know any different; after all, we are the world’s largest consumers of fast food. Obviously we don’t know the difference between real food and fake food so why wouldn’t producers sell us the second or third rate product? Most North Americans have never even tasted good olive oil because it’s so hard to find.
So if you are buying olive oil because it’s in a pretty bottle, or because your intention is to drizzle it on your salad or dip your bread in it, use it within the year of it being harvested. If the retailer where you buy does not advise you when the oil was harvested, then it’s likely at least a year old, especially if it’s already in a bottle. Olives are harvested for oil in the northern hemisphere – Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, California – in October/November, and in the southern hemisphere – Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa – in May/June.
I suggest you race to the bottom of the bottle quickly. Sure, easy for me to say! I sell really good olive oil for a living. If I could convince everyone to consume olive oil faster, that would be great for my business. We would consume a quantity closer to the Greek average of 25 litres per year and Barrie Olive Oil would reap the benefits. But so would you. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an unrefined fruit juice – meaning it is not heated or deodorized or chemically-altered – with high polyphenols/antioxidants and oleocanthal (nature’s ingredient for pain relief and inflammation). It’s a superfood that offers both both nutritional and medicinal benefits and it makes your food taste great. If you could add something to your diet as simply as you can add EVOO, that is also delicious and healthy, why wouldn’t you try to go through as much as possible?
Make it a race to the bottom of the bottle. On your mark…get set…GO!
