Ask Doc It started with an 8-year-old boy in Madrid... pronounced dead on arrival at the local hospital.
In 1981, Jaime Vaquero Garcia died from something called toxic oil syndrome. He was the first victim of the epidemic that killed 300 people in central Spain that May. The "toxic oil" came from door-to-door salesmen and local merchants.
Their wares turned out to be rapeseed oil that unscrupulous producers cut with the industrial dye aniline, processed, and then sold as olive oil.
Cause of death: fake olive oil.
Since then, the International Olive Council has tightened standards on oil.
But the olive-oil industry is booming. The global olive-oil market is worth more than $20 billion, and experts expect that to keep increasing as demand for olive oil continues to rise about 3% annually. And this success continues to summon the scammers.
Decades later, another scandal popped up when news articles warned consumers of fake olive oil... Most of the articles only cited two complex studies done by the University of California Davis Olive Center. And the findings didn't point to "fake" olive oil... but to extra-virgin olive oils that were adulterated or of poor quality.
These studies identified olive oils that were...
- Oxidized because they were exposed to too much heat or light or had been on the shelf too long.
- Mixed with cheaper oils or with refined, heavier olive oil.
- Made with damaged or overripe olives, weren't processed correctly, or were stored poorly.
These factors make for poor-tasting olive oil... but they aren't dangerous for your health. (And there are ways to make sure you're buying good-quality oil and not "fools gold." But more on that later...)
Today, another fake-olive-oil scandal has been hitting headlines...
Unfortunately, the past few years haven't been ideal for olive growers in the Mediterranean thanks to a mix of too-wet and too-dry weather. You might have noticed that olive oil has been getting more expensive. (There's a good reason olive oil is also known as liquid gold.)
These factors have led to a booming business in fraudulent olive-oil sales. Last November, the European Union's Europol (a law-enforcement agency) found hundreds of thousands of liters of fake olive oil.
The bottles claimed to be 100% Spanish or Italian olive oil. But investigators found that the bottles actually contained oil byproducts, calling the stuff "unfit for consumption." And some criminals are coloring fake olive oil with chlorophyll or beta carotene.
We've had a few readers write in asking if they should worry about the olive oil they're buying in the grocery store.
If you're in the U.S., you don't need to worry.
There's no sign any of this adulterated olive oil made it to the U.S., according to the North American Olive Oil Association ("NAOOA"). And NAOOA is planning to beef up its own testing of olive oil (alongside the testing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration already does).
In the case of the fake olive oil, most of the product was sold in back-alley-bargain types of deals to factories or restaurants trying to pass off the oil as real while cutting costs. There's no indication that there was a larger, global supply-chain issue... especially not for reputable, big-name brands of olive oil like Brightland, California Olive Ranch, or Pompeian.
But even when it's not downright dangerous, not all olive oil is created equal. If you want to find the best olive oil, check the label. Some of the cheaper brands claim to be from a single source (like Italy), but if you look at the back of the bottle, the label probably lists several countries where the olives might be from.
So when you're buying olive oil, do what I do...
Stick to glass. If the oil was mishandled in shipping and heated, the plastic could leach chemicals into the oil.
Buy dark bottles. Choose an oil in a glass bottle that is not clear. Clear bottles allow too much light to affect the oil.
Check for a harvest date. Extra-virgin olive oil is best used within two years of its harvest date. The more recent the date on your bottle, the better.
Now, let's dig into the Q&A... As always, keep sending your comments, questions, and topic suggestions to [email protected]. My team and I really do read every e-mail.
Q: I read an article that says your ability to absorb vitamin D decreases with age so that those over 65 get very little absorption. – D.V.
A: It's true that as we age, our body's ability to make vitamin D lessens. And older folks often have mobility issues, leading to less time spent outside in the sunshine. This means fewer opportunities to get enough vitamin D from the sun.
For some people, it's not easy to get the vitamin D you need from the sun. And I realize that most won't eat a diet rich enough in vitamin D to make that a reliable source.
I'm a firm believer that you should always try seeking lifestyle and dietary solutions before turning to pills. But if you're not getting enough of this critical vitamin, I'm all for getting the extra help you need through a vitamin D supplement.
So if you suspect you're in the deficiency camp, talk to your doctor about getting a blood test.
Most folks should only take lower doses (no more than 600 to 800 international units, or "IU," a day) or take just one supplement a week. But beware... Some vitamin D supplements have more than 5,000 IU.
So you definitely don't want to take one every day. Recall that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it builds up over time in your fatty tissues. This is dangerous because it becomes much easier to overdo it. Too much vitamin D can lead to high levels of calcium in your blood which, at the worst, can damage your heart and kidneys.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Getting AT&T's $5 credit? Here's how to avoid scammers.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
March 8, 2024