<table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
<pre>Dear All,

I am a new subscriber to this list. I follow the discussions from
time to time, but today the subject of "cold pressed olive oil" was
close to home and I thought that I had something to offer on the
subject.

We are from Astrikas Estate on the island of Crete, Greece. We
cultivate, produce and market, through our company BIOLEA, stone
ground and cold pressed organic olive oil. My family has been
directly involved with olive oil production for six generations and
our accumulated experience orients my views (and practice) in favor
of the traditional extraction of olive oil. In order to show
impartiality, I will use scientific references to underline the fact
that TRUE "cold pressed" olive oil is of superior quality compared to
the centrifugal extraction method.

Cold pressed olive oil has different quality characteristics than
olive oil derived from the centrifugal extraction system. The main
drawback of the centrifugal system, other than heat, is that the
olive paste has to be thinned out with warm water in order to pass
from the centrifugal decanter. The olive oil antioxidants are water-
soluble, therefore, during the aquatic phase in the decanter a great
deal of antioxidants are lost in the discarded vegetable water.

" … the total polyphenol and o-diphenol content and induction time of
the oils obtained by pressing and percolation were significantly
higher than those of the centrifugally extracted oils."

Luciano Di Giovancchino,
" Influence of Extraction Systems on Olive Oil Quality" 1996.
Instituto Sperimentale per la Elaiotechnica Pescara, Italy.

"…the higher temperatures and longer beating times involved (in
centrifugal extraction), coupled with the use of hot water to dilute
the olive paste, remove and cause a deterioration in the minor
compounds that give the oil its protective and aromatic properties,
so altering its flavor and making it congenitally delicate from the
stand point of its keeping properties."
Mario Solinas,
"Principles of Olive Oil Extraction"
Bolletino dell' Academia Nazionale dell' Olivo No.3 1989.






I do agree that the centrifugal system is many times more efficient
and operates with fewer workers who do not need to be specially
trained. Therefore it makes olive oil more profitable for the
processor and more accessible to the consumer.
I do agree that the markets need inexpensive olive oil and this need
does justify some sacrifice in quality in order to make olive oil
affordable to a wide market segment.
I do agree that in order to produce TRUE cold pressed olive oil, and
run an economically sustainable operation, a premium has to be
applied on this olive oil.
I do not agree and I strongly protest the arbitrary use of terms
implying or referring to traditional extraction such as " cold
pressed" and "first cold pressed" on labels of olive oils extracted
by centrifugal decanters.

Companies that standardize olive oil (including Greek companies),
take advantage of the absence of local and international regulations
and unfairly profit on consumer's value perception.The fact that so
many olive oil companies use the term "cold pressed" or try to make
false associations to it in order to create added value proves that
they know the true value attributed to the traditional extraction
method.

Here I have to admit that while the olive oil industry is profiting
by capitalizing on terms referring to traditional pressing, efforts
are being made to improve the three-phase centrifugal extraction to
achieve higher quality.
The new two-phase centrifugal system introduces some of the discarded
vegetable water back to the decanter instead of using 100% new water
thus achieving impressing results. This system is not accepted by the
olive oil industry because the extracted olive pomace contains all
the vegetable water present, making it semi liquid. Until the issue
of the semi liquid pomace - which is not acceptable to the olive oil
refining industry - has been resolved, the two-phase system decanters
will be operating as three-phase systems with no change in the
quality of the olive oil produced.

This is an olive oil list and the professional people who participate
in it ought to understand and face with responsibility such important
olive oil issues.


George Dimitriadis

visit us at:
http://www.biolea.gr
</pre>
</td></tr></table>