The Freezing Test for Extra Virgin Olive Oil – A Persistent Myth
People love tricks, and the “freeze test” is one of the most repeated myths in the olive oil world. Put your olive oil in the fridge, if it solidifies it’s real, if it stays liquid it’s mixed or fake. Sounds simple, but it’s completely unreliable and honestly, lazy thinking.
Why the Freeze Test Is Useless
Olive oil doesn’t behave uniformly in cold temperatures. Some extra virgin oils solidify partially, some stay clear, some turn cloudy, and all of that can still be 100% pure. Why? Because it depends on the fatty acid profile, olive variety, harvest time, filtration, and countless natural variations. An unfiltered oil may solidify faster because of particles and waxes, while a filtered premium oil may not solidify at all, even though it’s pure. So if someone trusts a fridge over a lab, they’re fooling themselves.
Worse, adulterated oil can also trick this test. A dishonest producer could mix refined oils or low-grade oils that mimic solidification. You could have a 50% fake oil and it would still pass the so-called “freeze test.” That alone should kill the myth.
Real Verification Requires Lab Testing
There is only one way to know if olive oil is true extra virgin and not blended with cheap oils – laboratory testing. Period. No kitchen tricks, no fridge games.
Lab analysis checks things like:
- Free acidity (must be below 0.8% for EVOO)
- Peroxide values and UV markers (for oxidation)
- Fatty acid and sterol profile (to detect foreign oils)
- Sensory panel evaluation by certified tasters (no defects allowed)
If it doesn’t pass chemistry and sensory panel testing, it’s not extra virgin. That’s why serious producers never talk about fridge tests, only certificates.
Filtered vs Unfiltered – Another Reason the Myth Fails
Unfiltered oil may solidify because it still contains micro-particles and moisture. Filtered oil is cleaner, lighter, and may stay liquid in the exact same temperature. That difference alone destroys the freeze myth. And if you blend oils? The result becomes unpredictable. Fraudulent blends are often engineered to pass basic visual tricks.
EU Regulations Back This Up
Under EU law, extra virgin olive oil status is granted only after official chemical and organoleptic testing. Regulations like EU 2022/2104 set strict limits on acidity, oxidation, sterols, fatty acids, and sensory quality. Every batch marketed as EVOO is legally supposed to comply with these standards. So an oil that hasn’t passed lab control cannot legally claim to be extra virgin, regardless of what it does in your refrigerator.
Why Our Olive Oil Is Verified as Pure
We don’t play guessing games. Every batch of our oil goes through certified lab analysis. It passes EU-accredited chemical tests and professional tasting panels. Our acidity values are well under legal limits, our peroxide levels are clean, and our sensory profile is approved with zero defects. We do not blend with unidentified oils, we do not refine, we do not dilute. We have reports to prove it, not old kitchen myths.
So no, we don’t care if someone freezes our oil. We care that it passes the only test that matters — the laboratory.
BUY OUR PREMIUM EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Want Real Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
If you want olive oil that’s proven, not guessed, buy ours. It’s tested, certified, and clean. NOTE: If you need an extended version of our lab analysis, write to us. Testing provided for harvest 2024 and LOT: 0531625 (current batch that we sell)
