Only through comprehensive knowledge of the product can you ensure that you have made a choice of top quality cretan olive oil delivered to you under the securest conditions.
In its effort to inform its consumers throughout the world, Terra Creta S.A. has advanced an innovative concept:
During the bottling process, all the basic laboratory findings of quality in the product are directly printed on the label.
The listed elements are as follows:
Acidity:
This marks the presence of free fatty acids in the olive oil. These fatty acids in their free form are detrimental to cells, and as such we strive towards the lowest possible values. The ACIDITY rate which characterizes each olive oil product has always been a basic criterion of choice.
However, since there are means through which the initial acidity can be eliminated via a chemical process, it goes without saying that consumers are often deceived. This is so because by presenting a very low, or even a zero value, of acidity, the product is rendered more marketable. Still, during this processing, or ‘refinement’, by which acidity is eliminated, many beneficial elements of the product, like vitamins, etc., are also removed, thus greatly reducing nutritional value. Although the refinement process eliminates the initial acidity of the product, it does not reduce the value of five remaining basic elements. The low value of these elements is an indication of good quality olive oil. Choose your cretan olive oil based not only in acidity but in those five elements too.
K232/K270/DK:
These values indicate the presence of various acidulous substances in the olive oil. The lower the finding, the greater is the retention of the product’s freshness.
Peroxide:
This indicates the acidic condition of the olive oil (rancidity/rankness). The lower the findings, the lower the percentage of acidulous substances harmful to cells.
Waxes:
The olive crop is covered by waxy substances produced by the olive tree in order to protect its fruit from the environment. In part, this permeates the olive oil during the processing of the crop at the factory. Low findings of waxes are indicative of a product that has been extracted under optimum conditions at the factory and therefore boasts better quality and longer retention of freshness.
To recapitulate, it is important to note that in general, the lower the rates/findings of these elements in the olive oil we consume, the healthier and greater its nutritional value, as well as its retention of freshness through time.
For this reason alone, we strive to achieve the lowest possible values of the aforementioned elements without any kind of refinement processing.
European Union regulations 1989/2003 have established the maximum rate of allowance of these undesirable elements in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
We, at Terra Creta S.A., have set as a goal that our Extra Virgin Olive Oil will boast findings of these elements that will never exceed 50% of the European Union maximum rate of allowance. In fact the findings in our olive oil range between 20% and 30% of the established E.U. rates.
