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<pre>I am not surprised about the Sansa oil. So much of the expensive food in
"top" restaurants and hotels is about presentation rather than taste. No
doubt they had expensive plates and the best quality glasses.

Acidity for sansa oil and olive oil is usually very low. If you read the
consumer tests it is usually lower than extravergine as it has been
processed to reduce the acidity.

Finally having found it in this "top" kitchen what was it being used
for? No doubt they would claim it was for polishing the floor tiles!

Cheers Brian Chatterton
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<pre>Until the IOOC takes a leading and firm stand against the use of Sansa or
Pomace oil for human consumption (wishful thinking!), we are going to see
continued and widespread use of this oil, especially for institutional use
(where the actual consumer is oblivious to the type of oil being used and
served), and where price is the prime motivator of purchase.

Ever since the vigilant health authorities of the Czech Republic first
picked up the health dangers associated with Spanish Olive Pomace Oil well
over a year ago, evidence has been building up against these sansa oils,
irrespective of country of production. This is because of the nature of the
production process used in extracting this oil. During the necessary drying
stage of the sansa or presscake (prior to solvent extraction and refining),
one invariably has the overheating or pyrolysis of the carbonaceous
materials (fibre, skin and crushed pips) as the finely crushed sansa passes
through the drying furnaces. This leads to the formation of a range of
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and specifically
Benzo-alpha-Pyrene, which is not only carcinogenic, but also neurotoxic and
genotoxic.

These compounds have been detected in high doses (up to 60 times the maximum
permitted content) in Pomace oils originating from not only Spain, but also
Greece and Italy.

Since the initial flurry of bad press on Pomace in the third quarter of
2001, other more gripping events have grabbed the headlines. It would be
interesting to hear of any later developments on the subject.

As a matter of interest, I yesterday popped into a new deli in a touristy
resort town near Cape Town, and saw a range of (unlabeled) herb-flavoured
olive oils in fancy decorated glass bottles. I asked the owner if I could
taste the oil, and, apart from the herby-garlicy taste, it appeared to be a
very bland oil. I guessed it to be refined, so I asked him what he was
using. He produced a 5 Litre PET can of ...Olive Pomace Oil. After giving
him a bit of a lecture on PAHs and BaPs, he seemed genuinely moved, and
assured me he was going to replace the product with EVOO.

During the course of last year we were inundated by a spate of fraudulent
products on our local market (seed oils coloured, flavoured and marketed as
EVOO). As the plaintiff, I accompanied our Commercial Police on numerous
raids on the warehouses of dodgy distrubutors and importers, and it was
amazing how much Pomace or Sansa oil was being imported, and sold mainly to
hotels and restaurants. It was also amazing how many computer viruses my
firewall had to subsequently fend off!!

Regards,

Guido Costa
Paarl
South Africa
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<pre>Hi everyone.

I am a new member here, and I am a new to the olive oil business. Few
years ago my family started an Olive Oil business in Syria and now I
decided to leave Canada and give it a try.
Commenting on the subject matter. What I really don't understand is
that there should be much less supply of Pomace oil then there is of
Extra Virgin, since the Pomace Oil is derived from the leftover of
the Olive Oil squeeze. In Syria the case is solved, since all the
pomace oil is used for sop only (because of high acidity) and I don't
know of any facility to treat the oil to reduce their acidity.
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<pre>Hi All
Would the esteemed group say refined olive oil is better or worse
(healthwise) than refined seed oil?
Answers i.r.o. both "Pure" olive oil and Sansa would be of interest.

The respective olive oils are pretty tasteless anyway and I believe the only
benefit
of same is that one can say "Contains olive oil" on the menu or label.
Steve Wilson
Cape Town


> Until the IOOC takes a leading and firm stand against the use of Sansa or
> Pomace oil for human consumption (wishful thinking!), we are going to see
> continued and widespread use of this oil, especially for institutional use
> (where the actual consumer is oblivious to the type of oil being used and
> served), and where price is the prime motivator of purchase.
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