Firstly, thank you to everyone who have commented on my photo and article in SA Weekend. It's good to see local produce being supported, especially at a time when everyone is starting to question where their food comes from. I'm going to pick up on this point and answer a common question I get about "best before" dates with olive oil. My first point is that olive oil never goes "off" so that you can't consume it. However the quality will decline over time and the oil will become rancid, losing its taste and health benefits. This happens about two years after harvest, depending on how it has been stored, and is determined by a laboratory test. All accredited Extra Virgin Olive Oil has had this laboratory test performed and therefore the "best before" date reflects the time when the oil goes from being "Extra Virgin" to plain old "Virgin". Still completely safe to use, it just lacks the taste and health benefits. HOWEVER!! Don't use this rule for non-accredited 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil.' The law in Australia requires olive oil to have a "best before" date of 2 years from the date of bottling. This means that the oil can sit in a drum for 6 years and then bottled with a further 2 year "best before" marked on it. Choice magazine did a study of supermarket olive oil and found that 90% of olive oil was "off" despite what the "best before" date claimed. Hmmm... Always look for the accreditation logo.
 White Soaps is a great little business in Aldinga, SA producing soaps with locally sourced ingredients (where possible). All of their soaps now contain Seaview Grove Olive Oil and we've been sampling many of them in our house recently. The kids love their Goat's Milk soap and I'm pretty happy with my Gardner's Delight soap. If you click on the image you can see their full online store.  | Did you know that MOST "Italian" Olive Oil actually comes from Spain? Did you know that anyone can write "Extra Virgin" on their olive oil label even if it isn't? Did you know that many foreign products carry the "Australian Certified Organic" logo? Please click on the image to support a petition from Choice for better food labelling laws.  EVOO Chocolate Cake If you haven't tried this one yet from one of our recipe brochures its well worth having a go. It's gluten free, very moist (lots of olive oil), and being a Nigella Lawson recipe, it's very rich! Visit our recipe page to access the recipe. |
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