This YouTube video (Puneet Nanda, Feb 21, 2025) warns that much commercial olive oil is adulterated and shows a simple demo mixing cheap palm oil with chlorophyll to mimic extra virgin olive oil. The host states an 80% fraud rate, compares bulk prices (palm oil ~ $0.50/kg vs. extra virgin olive oil ~ $13/kg), explains differences between extra virgin and virgin processing, lists buying tips (dark bottle, avoid labels like “pure”/“light”, prefer single-origin Italy/Greece/Spain/California, family-owned producers), and outlines five health benefits and practical usage guidance (use cold/room-temperature, limit to ~2 spoons/day, avoid frying).
Questions this video answers
80%.
About $0.50 per kilogram.
About $13 per kilogram.
Chapters
Did you know more than anything you would have imagined, the biggest fraud in oil business is olive oil. You think you're actually enjoying the cleanest oil. Most of the times you're getting cheated. 80% of the olive oil in the market is fake. Let me teach you how they do it. This is palm oil. Palm oil in bulk is 50 cents a kilo. This is olive oil in bulk. Extra virgin olive oil is about $13 per kilo. So about 1 26th of the price. So I put a little bit of palm oil in right here. Now, I took a simple chlorophyll liquid, chlorophyll drops. I added a few drops of it. Look at this. 1, 2. Let's see if it does the magic. And this is your olive oil. Basically, I'll have to figure out how much to add exactly so that it can match the color. But this is your olive oil. This is what you're actually paying $13 for in bulk. And by the time it reaches you, it's probably $50, which is probably costing them $2. So for a lot of these smugglers or bad guys, this business is like more lucrative than drug business. So the Italian mafia in Sicily, instead of focusing on other mafiatic stuff, they started doing this in, in the 90s and their counterparts in New York were helping hands. This is what was going on. There's a lot of crackdown, but still, it's still going on. And there are other ways they are doing it. Whenever you are buying olive oil, they sometimes write pure and blended olive oil from Italy and other European nations don't get it. No blended means probably they are adding 1 to 2% olive olive oil and 98% the scrap. So how do you ensure that whatever oil you're buying is pure extra virgin olive oil? Now let me first tell you what is extra virgin and virgin. Extra virgin is the one that does not use heat or any of the other processing that is required. It is just simple cold breast. Now, in the virgin, they use some processing. So, so the acidity increases and there are the taste changes and it's not the same. It has lower polyphenols, which is the most healthiest part of the olive oil. So you want extra virgin olive oil undiluted with anything, nothing added, nothing removed, as they say. So whenever you choose the olive oil, make sure the bottle is actually dark amber green, that it prevents oxidation of the oil, which is very important. Once it has light over it or heat, it will get oxidized and that's not what you want. Now avoid Oils that say pure or light, anything that is processed, no bueno, no good. Now also ensure that you are buying from sources like Italy, Greece, Spain or California. So when you buy, make sure they are single origin if possible. And normally companies that are family owned farms have the best quality oil there be. Now let us talk about the five major benefits of olive oil. Why everybody should be including olive oil and why the blue zone people, the one who live in the Mediterranean area, live so long. One of the reasons is they enjoy pure olive oil every day. People even press their own oils. They grow their olive trees, they press their own oils and that's the best. Real olive oil is so amazing. It has a little sketchy thing right in the throat. But once you start dipping a sourdough, especially the pumpkin nickel sourdough in olive oil with a little bit of aged balsamic vinegar, this is the best. Unbelievable. Now let me tell you the five benefits of eating olive oil every day. Number one, heart health. It lowers the bad cholesterol, which is the ldl and actually it helps raise the hdl, the good cholesterol. It is also amazing when it comes to brain protection. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer's because of the extraordinary polyphenol loaded content in it. Now olive oil is anti inflammatory and it is a natural pain reliever. It is also great if you're looking to lose weight. It's great for weight management because it supports metabolism and satiety. Once you have olive oil, you feel like you're full. Now remember everything in moderation, including moderation. I don't want you to drink the whole bottle and say, oh, I didn't lose weight. Just a spoon or two, that's all. It is amazing for gut health because it ensures that there is a healthy microbiome in your gut, which means better digestion. Now let me tell you how to use olive oil. I drizzle it over my salad with aged balsamic vinegar instead of buying all those processed dressings. I think those processed dressings are 70% sugar. Stay away from them. Also, do not make fried food in olive oil. I went to India, there was somebody who was making puris. Puris is they were frying the naan in a way and they were frying it in olive oil and said this is the healthy version. No, no, that's the worst. Olive oil should be eaten cold or even if you have to warm it, it has to be very slightly warm. And not even that. I always eat it absolutely at the room temperature. Number three, no more than two spoons a day. Don't try to just load yourself up. It is a very caloric, dense food. Right? So don't overdo it. So enjoy the olive oil. Be very careful before buying it. This world is not an easy place. You got to navigate and be the guru of your own wellness. Thank you. If you like my video, share it. Let your loved ones know that they need to be careful as well because health is wealthy.
