Can someone please tell me about raw olive oils? If it is cold pressed, does that mean it is raw? I was at Whole Foods the other day looking for some raw olive oil and I was overwhelmed by the selection and the fact that I have No clue about how they are processed.

Help! :confused:

Sonora

These explanations might be of some help- :)

Quality Grades of Olive Oil
All virgin olive oil is extracted from olives by mechanical means only. It can receive no treatments other than washing, decantation, centrifugation, and filtration. The oil's flavor must be without flaw. Two levels of virgin oil are sold in the United States: extra-virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil. The primary difference is their acidity level, the higher the acidity, the poorer the quality.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is the highest virgin oil quality grade. These oils have a distinctive taste ranging from soft and fruity to peppery depending on methods and timing of harvesting and handling as well as olive variety and specific growing conditions. The acidity is less than 1 percent.

Virgin Olive Oil also has individual taste characteristics though not as fine as extra-virgin olive oil. Its acidity varies from 1 to 3 percent.

Olive Oil (also called pure olive oil) is the name for a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil. Refining results in a neutral-tasting oil. Typically, 5 to 10 percent or more virgin or extra-virgin olive oil is blended with the refined oil for flavor and balance.

Olive Pomace Oil is the least expensive oil. It is oil extracted with the use of solvents from the remains of the olive paste after extraction of olive oil by other means. This oil is then refined to produce a neutral oil and blended with virgin olive oil for flavor and body.

Light Olive Oil is not a quality grade of olive oil nor does it have anything to do with calories. "Light olive oil" is an olive oil blended for its "light" (neutral) taste

Even a cold-pressed oil would be an unnatural food, but here are some sources:

http://www.barianioliveoil.com/

http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/

These explanations might be of some help- :)
...
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is the highest virgin oil quality grade. These oils have a distinctive taste ranging from soft and fruity to peppery depending on methods and timing of harvesting and handling as well as olive variety and specific growing conditions. The acidity is less than 1 percent.

Virgin Olive Oil also has individual taste characteristics though not as fine as extra-virgin olive oil. Its acidity varies from 1 to 3 percent.
...

Virgin Olive Oil is pressed at high pressure and this might heat up the oil. So I wouldn´t call it raw, while Extra-Virgin Oil is raw, but not natural as Sharon said.

Cold-pressed olive oil, by the way, is largely "expeller-pressed" by the way, rather than pressed in an apple or orange juice type of press. Think vegetable juicer, only bigger. While it this generally electricity-driven process does heat up the olives and the oil as they are shredded and centrifuged mechanically, many companies advertise that it is not heated up enought to cause significant chemical changes -- thus "cold pressed."

Of course, who knows, they may cook it in a kettle before "cold-pressing" it. I have no idea.

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/definitions.htm

Cold pressed Olive Oil

Cold pressed is not a reliably regulated label description for olive oil. Cold pressed olive oil is made by milling the olives into paste under cold conditions then malaxation or mixing of the paste for 30 to 60 minutes with the addition of heat via steam or hot water jackets to raise it up to body temperature. Heating the paste increases yield but degrades flavor so heating beyond that point would degrade the flavor of the oil to the point where it would not qualify as extra virgin. After the oil is pressed out of the paste, the dry pomace (pits and flesh) is sometimes sold to refineries where steam and solvents are used to remove any residual oil.

and
Extra Virgin olive oil

Virgin olive oil with an absolutely impeccable taste and aroma; fruity; the acidity, expressed in oleic acid, may not exceed 1%. Extra Virgin olive oil accounts for less than 10% of oil in many producing countries. Used on salads, added at the table to soups and stews and for dipping.

http://www.bertolli.com/us/oliveoil/index.cfm?cl_id=&t=History%20of%20Olive%20Oil
Olive trees do not bear fruit until 5 to 8 years old and don't reach full development until 20.

They mature and are at full production from 35 to 150 years of age, after which they will bear irregular crops almost indefinitely.

The average tree produces 33 to 44 pounds of olives per year, or the equivalent to 3 to 4 liters of oil per year. (It takes about 11 pounds of olives to make 1 liter of oil.)


11 pounds for a quarter of a gallon? I'd better start pouring oil carefully.