You may be looking for or wondering where you can get organic olive pomace oil. Well, you could be looking for a long time, because it does not exist.
Why is it that you can’t get olive pomace oil as an organic oil? Well to be certified “organic” olives have to be grown in accordance to certain farming practices. And even after the olives are grown organically, the processing of the oil (getting the oil out of the olives) has to be done organically — that is, without chemicals (unless organically approved “chemicals” like salt and a few others).
Olive pomace oil is similar to conventional canola and soybean, as it is most commonly a solvent extracted oil. Solvent extraction is a process that involves both heating and using a chemical solvent to extract the remaining oil out of the olive pomace.
That being said, you may be wondering how olive pomace oil is made to help you better understand why it can truly never be an organic oil.
How Olive Pomace Oil Is Made
Olive pomace oil is extracted from the pomace of the olive. The pomace really is the leftover pulp made from the pit and already squeezed olive fruit. Once picked, the olive is then ground into a paste and then either squeezed or spun to get the oil out. This remaining dry pulp, left after the first spin or press is the pomace.
Pomace oil is later extracted from this dry olive pulp with help from a solvent, and then from there it is refined.
Why Olive Pomace Oil Can’t Be Organic
This solvent — which is an inherent part of the process of making this lowest grade of olive oil — is not organic approved and therefore the final product can’t be considered an organic oil (no matter if it was made from organic olives originally or not).
In the US you will find the most common grade of certified organic olive oil is the extra virgin.
Have your eyes open for any suppliers that may advertise organic olive pomace oil — to be honest, we’re not sure what you will be receiving!
Want to learn more? Check out Olive Pomace Oil: The Ultimate Guide for a deep dive on everything Olive Pomace Oil.
Topics: Organic, Olive Pomace Oil
