You're eating a lot of bad, rotten olive oil — here's how to find the real stuff

But unfortunately, it's also one of the most commonly counterfeited foods.

As Larry Olmsted, author of the book "Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don't Know What You're Eating and What You Can Do about It," told Business Insider, this is a real problem because people buy olive oil both for its amazing flavor and health benefits.

So if you're not getting the real thing, you're missing out — big time.

There are all kinds of ways that people either pass off lower quality (or even rotten) oils for true extra-virgin olive oil.

In the book, Olmsted writes that it has become less common recently to cut olive oil with sunflower oil or some other form of oil, though this still happens. As he explains, every time the FDA has looked for adulterated oil, they've found it.

That's not the only type of consumer fraud, though.

Often, extra-virgin olive oil might be diluted with low-quality and chemically refined oil. Or, as he explains, some producers will use "older — and often rancid — stocks of oil held over from bumper crops of previous seasons" that might pass inspection on the day they are bottled but will certainly be rotten by the time they reach consumers.

As FiveThirtyEight has pointed out, many people in the US are so accustomed to rancid olive oil that they like that flavor, which is less bitter than fresh, higher-quality olive oil. But those rancid or low quality oils may not have the same health benefits as quality olive oils. Plus, if you're paying for extra-virgin olive oil, you should get a product that's up to standards.

How to find the good stuff

If you're looking for the true high-quality product, here's what Olmsted recommends.

terms like "first pressed," "cold pressed," and "first cold pressed" are also unregulated and therefore meaningless
Only buy "extra virgin" olive oil
McEvoy Ranch from California
Cobram Estate
Oro Bailen
Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club
Zingerman's
Oliviers & Co.
extravirginity.com
COOC Certified Extra Virgin
EVA
100% Quality Italiana
you don't want anything older than one year
small cans or bottles that you use quickly