A typical condiment in Italian culinary tradition, extra-virgin olive oil is a real treasure for Italians. As such, care should be taken to store it properly. Oil bottles out in the open on restaurant tables, sometimes even under the afternoon sun, may be pretty and characteristic, but they risk harming the extra-virgin olive oil inside. Ringing the alarm on this matter is Assitol (Associazione Italiana dell’Industria Olearia, or the Italian Oil Industry Institute), which created a useful guide together with the Italian National Consumer’s Union, entitled “Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – A Treasure to Protect.”
Extra-virgin olive oil is one of the most beneficial foods in the Mediterranean diet due to its exceptional nutritional and health properties. The environmental conditions must be suitable to preserve its precious elements, which are sensitive to deterioration.
Assitol advises consumers: oil should be stored in dark containers and never exposed to sunlight or high temperatures. Otherwise, its precious qualities, such as the antioxidants it contains, will deteriorate.
The first piece of advice concerns non-refillable olive oil bottles or those exposed to the sun and high temperatures. As Agostino Macrì, Food Inspection professor at the Università Campus Biomedico di Roma, explains, “In these conditions, any antioxidants present break-down and, more seriously, the oil can go rancid due to the formation of unpleasant and even dangerous substances. The same thing can happen in oil stored improperly at home. Our general reminder is that extra-virgin olive oil must be stored in dark containers in a cool location. And stay away from those sitting out in the sun.”
Exposure to strong light causes the quality of the product to deteriorate. Experts recommend bottles be kept away from the heat, but also from the cold: never store them below 50°F.
“Extra-virgin olive oil is a living product, which must be carefully protected by following a few simple rules. Only oil that is properly conserved can demonstrate all of the beneficial properties that medicine confirmed long ago. And if the sun does oil harm, be careful with air: the bottle must always be closed tightly after each use, so the contents don’t risk oxidizing,” Assitol confirms.
Consumers are also called to turn the tide and opt for extra-virgin olive oil over other kinds: the average per capita consumption in Italy has decreased by about 30% over the last few years, dropping from 26 pounds to about 18. The total consumption of extra-virgin olive oil in Italy varies between 500,000 and 600,000 tons.