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Europa Press
Madrid
Thursday, 2 January 2025, 20:41
Some supermarket own-brand extra virgin olive oils are on a par with the leading brands on store shelves in Spain. Five of the ten highest quality oils are supermarket brands or white-label brands, with an average price per litre of 1.50 euros below that of the leading brands, according to the latest analysis by the OCU -Spain's leading, independent consumer watchdog.
What is more, this year's results have been "good or very good", due to the fact that, for the first time since 2007, the OCU analysis has not detected any quality non-compliance among the extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) selected for this analysis.
As far as the OCU is concerned this is good news for consumers as, added to the incipient drop in prices, it will undoubtedly help to boost consumption, which had fallen by 24% in 2023.
Leading the list of the best is Oleoestepa EVOO, DOP Estepa (12.44 euros per litre), followed by Alcampo's own-brand Auchan Bio Ecological EVOO (14.26 euros/l) and Mercadona's own-brand Hacendado EVOO (8.75 euros). Soon these prices could be even lower as a result of the latest price drops.
However, most of these oils share a labelling issue that could be improved according to the OCU. Many labels still lack basic information such as the date of production or bottling that would allow consumers to know the age of the oil, the variety(-ies) of olive used, the Nutriscore nutritional information (which would be a B in all cases) and contact details for the bottler.
Moreover the OCU added that the product info is not always easy to read: on one in five labels it is very difficult to decipher the batch and best-before date as they are written in black lettering on the dark green plastic of the bottle.
Regarding the best use of extra virgin olive oil, the OCU recommends setting it aside for salads or other dishes where it can be used raw. For hot food like stews it is sufficient to use just normal olive oil - always a little cheaper - because in these cases the fruity flavour of extra virgin is not appreciated, so don't waste it. As for frying, best to use refined cooking oil as it is even cheaper and also has a higher smoke point.
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