Forget the viral TikTok trend to determine if your extra virgin olive oil is legit. Chief executive of the Australian Olive Association (AOA), Michael Southan says putting your Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) in the fridge to see if it solidifies is not foolproof as there are too many variables. Southan says the only way to authenticate your extra virgin olive oil is real or fake is to test it.

Southan has re-established the Olive Oil Quality Monitoring Program for that purpose. He says the quality-control program, run by the Australian Olive Association (AOA), aims to examine the quality of EVOO produced both in Australia and overseas to ensure customers are getting what they pay for.

“Not all extra virgin olive oils are created equally,” says Southan who is one of the organisers of the annual Australian International Olive Awards.

“The reason our certification program exists is so consumers can be confident when they see the logo that they are getting a genuine extra virgin olive oil,” says Southan, who has a PhD in agricultural chemistry.

Search for the seal

Southan says the monitoring program has been conducting random tests on local and imported products since Australian Standards were introduced in 2011. He says the aim of the AOA is to improve awareness about the Australian olive oil industry. He says searching for the AOA’s certified quality seal on EVOOs on Australian supermarket shelves is a good place to start.

“The Australian Standards for extra virgin olive oil are voluntary, which means we can’t force producers to adhere to them. But we can take them to the ACCC if they misrepresent what’s in the bottle or on the packaging because they are not stating the truth,” says Southan.

“The monitoring program is done to check there is compliance. We’ve seen a significant increase in compliance since we started testing over the past decade.  But 15 years ago, there was no Australian Standards so what were we to check it against?” he asks.

Southan believes the subject – on how to tell if your olive oil is real or fake – is blowing up on social media due to several factors. “We are hearing all these stories about the adulteration of olive oil because supply chains have tightened up due to the two-year drought in Europe. Add to this the fact production in Australia only meets half of the demand,” Southan says.

“Compliance applies just as much to the local producers to the big players from Spain and Italy. We will be testing a range of products that are available to consumers whether it be online, at a farmers’ market or supermarket,” he says.

Don’t be duped

Greg Mathews, of Grampians Olive Co. believes the subject is trending on TikTok and Instagram due to the fact the cost of olive oil has almost doubled in the past year.

“The TikTok trend has definitely helped to increase awareness on the subject of fake versus real olive oils,” says Mathews, whose Signature Organic Extra Olive Oil took home gold at the 2023 Australian Golden Olive Oil Awards.

“A lot of social media users are posting about that so-called fridge test. That if you put olive oil in the fridge and it solidifies it’s real. If it doesn’t solidify it’s been adulterated with cheaper seed oils like canola,” says Mathews.

“Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. Really the only way to determine exactly what’s in that bottle is to have it tested because the amount of long-chain fatty acids can vary from oil to oil so it’s never going to be 100 per cent accurate,” he says.

Mathews says while the drought in the Mediterranean has helped drive the high price of extra virgin olive oil around the world, it’s also made olive oil the subject of food fraud.

“When there’s a shortage and high demand and high prices there’s the temptation for some unscrupulous operators to take advantage of that by cutting olive oil with old oil or canola oil and labelling it as extra virgin olive oil,” he says.

The golden rule

Melanie Coid, secretary of the Olive Oil Producers Northeast Victoria, urges consumers to look for the Australian Standards symbol from the AOA that says the oil has been tested. “That little triangle will tell you whether your oil meets the standard for extra virgin olive oil in Australia,” she says.

Coid, who is the owner and director of Gooramadda Olives, says extra virgin olive oil remains a sought-after product because of the health benefits associated with its consumption.

“It’s a big part of the Mediterranean diet. It will help you reduce your cholesterol and it has enormous health benefits. A lot of growers in Australia are now exporting everything they can because there’s a global shortage and the price they can get is double the price when they export it. That’s going to lead to a shortage of extra virgin olive oil here in Australia,” Coid says.

Coid urges Australian consumers to support Australian olive oil producers to keep the industry alive. “Look for that gold standard. IF you’re buying an oil that you think is extra virgin and paying the relevant per litre price then you want to be pretty confident that you are getting the real thing,” she says.

Related story: Study finds we’re wasting way too much time deciding what to eat