Olive Oil Supplements Newport News VA

By Evelyn Spence

Some foods practically announce when they take a trip south: Just peek inside that mysterious Tupperware at the back of the fridge and check the “fuzz factor.” Others are harder to call—and oil is one of the most difficult because it deteriorates gradually. But you really ought to pay attention. Rancid oil contains cell-damaging chemicals called peroxides and aldehydes that contribute to clogged arteries, making it unhealthy, no matter how virgin it is. How’s a cook to know when it’s time to toss the bottle? We enlisted the help of Paul Vossen, a farm advisor at the University of California at Davis, and Barry Swanson, an expert in food science and nutrition, with the Institute of Food Technologists, to get the fat facts.

Rancidity: the 4-1-1
All fats, oils included, are composed of long chains of fatty acids. When exposed to oxygen, the chains start to break apart in as little as a week to a few months, allowing them to react with other compounds. The result? Your oil starts to smell, in the words of Vossen, “like crayons, paint, wax, putty, salami, varnish, or old walnuts.” Rancid oil harbors more than just an unpleasant odor and taste, however. It also contains a lot of free radicals that can attack your body’s cells and DNA. Known carcinogens, free radicals can contribute to heart disease and atherosclerosis to boot.
The lesson: If your oil smells or tastes funny, chuck it. It may not be as obvious as discarding the mystery meat with an orange-fuzz toupee, but it’s just as important.

The last oil standing
Stay with us for a little more science. The more saturated with hydrogen atoms an oil is—that is, the fewer spots it has to react with oxygen—the longer it lasts. Saturated fats like butter take much longer to go rancid than polyunsaturated fats, like soybean oil. Heart-damaging trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) are created by adding hydrogen to the oil’s fatty-acid chains to keep the oxygen out. This helps them last an (artificially) long time and extends the shelf life of products such as cookies and crackers. So as a general rule, the healthier oils, the very ones you want to be eating, spoil faster. Olive oil is an exception. It has a built-in buffer against rancidity in the form of natural antioxidants. Like oil bodyguards, these antioxidants actually react with oxygen interlopers before they can damage the fatty acids themselves. Other oils, such as flax, lack this protection and need refrigeration to keep from spoiling quickly. No clear-cut rule exists on how long it takes a particular bottle of oil to go bad. Depending on factors such as the type of oil, storage methods, and how much it has been processed, oil life spans can range from months to years.
The lesson: Although they don’t last as long, oils like safflower, virgin olive oil, peanut, walnut, and organic canola are worth it for your health. Just take a whiff before using them.

To press or not to press
The production method of oil...

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