Extra virgin olive oil is tasty and excellent for your health, but experts say as much as 70 percent of it sold in America is adulterated, or of a lower grade. How can you tell if your brand is the real deal?

1. Buy only Extra-Vergin Oil but…
2. Check the harvest and expiration date, olive oil loses fruitiness and flavor as it ages and after maximum two years from the harvest it will be oxidized and rancid.
3. Packaging: a dark bottle, a bottle wrapped in foil, a bottle packaged in cardboard or wooden box is a MUST to preserve the quality of the oil because it must be kept away from direct light.
4. Color: is the color of the olive oil important? Not at all! Official tasters always use dark glasses so that their sense is not influenced by the color. Many times oils are chemically manipulated to be greener because customers believe that greener oil is better. Which is not true!
5. Tasting: go to tasting the flavor.