Extra virgin olive oil label check shoppers should do before buying - or risk wasting money

Extra virgin olive oil tastes amazing and can unlock a whole host of health benefits. But, there's a few things you should check before buying a bottle of the 'liquid gold' or risk wasting your money

Turns out your extra virgin olive oil might not be so extra.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil has long been a staple of the Mediterranean diet, with researching hailing the 'liquid gold' for lowering 'bad' levels of cholesterol, slashing the risk of cardiovascular disease and even being linked to a lower risk of dementia-related death. Plus, it tastes great - whether it's drizzled on top of your salad, mopped up by warm bread, or added into your baking.

However, due to low production this year - triggered in certain countries like Italy due to extreme heat and drought - olive oil's increased price has shocked the nation. 'Supply is difficult and not sufficient to meet demand," Walter Zanre of Filippo Berio, one of the world’s biggest olive oil producers, told the Guardian earlier this year.

When manufacturers process oil, they use chemicals to clean it and then heat it. This helps extend the shelf-life but can also strip away the oil's flavour and some of its health benefits. Extra Virgin Olive Oil tends to contain more polyphenols than regular olive oil, which can help protect your heart, lower your diabetes risk and even help fight off infection. So, if you want to make sure your getting the full benefit from your daily drizzles - it's important to check the label and make sure you're not wasting your money.

According to the Telegraph, shoppers should look for a 'date of pressing' on the bottle, an purchase an oil 'that's a maximum of 15 months old from a shop with a high turnover. If the only label you can see is the best before date, the oil was probably pressed 18 months prior to this.

As light speeds up the oxidation of olive oil, which makes it go rancid, always opt for a bottle in a solid tin or darkened glass container. And if you're not wanting to spend a fortune, you don't always have to buy Italian. Countries like Croatia and Greece offer sunning varieties of extra virgin olive oil that won't break the bank, and still taste amazing.

Checking your EVOO label is more important than ever, as more and more fake products have been spotted following hiked prices. In July this year, a staggering 18,000 litres of fake olive oil was seized in Portugal. According to The Grocer, the Portuguese Food & Economic Security Authority seized more than €57,000 (£48,000) worth of cooking oil, along with 177,690 labels mentioning olive oil, during a raid at a refining site in Torres Novas, central Portugal. Authorities believe the oil would go on to be marketed as olive oil.

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