What's the difference between olive oil and canola oil? Put side by side, these two oils are actually quite disparate.

When you consider these oils from a home-use perspective, any differences might seem minor or unimportant. In this small-scale situation, the primary thing on the line is your health and you'll choose the oil that best fits your needs and your beliefs.

When you look at these oils from the perspective of an industrial food manufacturer, however, there's a lot more riding on this "simple decision". Understanding the objective differences will help you make the right educated choice -- whether it's for your family or for your company. 

Did you know that your oil is made up of a few different types of fats — some of which are regarded as healthy and some of which are not?

There are 3 natural types of fat: Saturated Fat, Monounsaturated Fat and Polyunsaturated Fat.

Saturated fat is listed on the nutritional label of your products as a subcategory.  Though they’re not often mentioned, there are 2 more subtypes that could be listed in the same area: the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

These last two are what is considered “good fat”. On the flip side, saturated fat is generally considered to be the “bad fat”.  However, with the popularity of coconut oil, this has come under hot debate recently.

Trans fat seems to be in it’s own category, a widely known bad type of fat that is artificially created through partial-hydrogenation.

By looking at the different types of fat and the ratios of each within an oil, you can determine which ones are healthier and which ones you should limit.

More and more, I’m recommending that my customers use an oil blend when they can — when their customers will appreciate it rather than feeling like it detracts from their product.

Why do I like these blends so much? I think an oil blend has a number of advantages that they bring to the table. But it all depends on what you’re looking for.

To be clear, a blend is a mix of two different types of oils. Both of them would have to be listed on your ingredient label, so you'd have two different oils in your product instead of one.

If you’ve been considering this option, today I’d like to help you see the oil blend option in a new light. 

It’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting when it comes to oil. Oils are produced in lots of different ways — some are expelled using solvents like hexane, some are expeller pressed with a mechanical press that physically squeezes the oil out.

How an oil is produced isn’t always “clearly marked” either. Sometimes the descriptors are in the title, sometimes they’re in abbreviated form (so you’ve got to know the lingo), and sometimes they’re only in the description on the spec sheet. We’ve even found that some vendors are not so adept at quality control, so sometimes you will find no mention of how the oil is made on any documents — and it will be in your hands to make sure you ask the right questions and get the proper documentation.

Expeller Pressed vs. Non-GMO: the interrelatedness of these two traits are a common point of discussion for me. Is all non-GMO oil expeller pressed? Is all expeller pressed oil automatically non-GMO?

These two terms are actually completely independent of each other, but often get confused because of how often they are used together in today’s natural oil descriptions.

How is Organic Virgin Coconut Oil different than Refined Coconut Oil?

These two types of coconut oil are actually quite different, and it’s important to know the exact differences before choosing one over the other. Depending on what you’re using the oil for, you’ll usually find that one will fit your purposes much better than the other. 

“RBD” is a term that you will hear commonly used when people are talking about oils of many different types. But what does it mean?

RBD is an acronym, which stands for Refined, Bleached and Deodorized. This acronym describes how the oil is processed, and whether it is a refined or unrefined product. It is used to describe a myriad of oils from canola to soy to olive to sunflower to grapeseed and more. However, the refining process is probably very different than you may be picturing, so I’ll tell you a little bit more about it.

Olive oil is the juice that comes from the olive, a fruit that is grown on the olive tree. The answer to exactly how olive oil is made will depend on the type of olive oil, or grade, that it is.

Today we’re going to do a basic review of the grades of olive oil and how they are made. You can learn in any way that you want — reading, visual slideshares or videos.

The term “omega” is usually thought of to be something healthy … a related to food and nutrition… and you should get more of them.

But do you really know what omega’s are? Most people don’t.

The more important question is why do your customers want to eat foods that contain omegas? Because healthy consumers everywhere are aware of the benefits and they are, in fact, looking for products that offer them. Understanding what each type of omega is, and why it’s healthy or unhealthy will give you some insight into your customers’ mindset.

Did you know that your oil is made up of a few different types of fats — some of which are regarded as healthy and some of which are not?

There are 3 common types of fat. The most common example is saturated fat: on a nutrition label, this specific type is listed as a subcategory below total fat on the nutrition label.

Though they’re not often mentioned, there are 2 more subtypes that could be listed in the same area: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These are the types of fats that most people in the oils business take notice of, because they are what is considered “good fat”. On the flip side, saturated fat is commonly considered to be the “bad fat”. (Trans fat seems to be in it’s own category, a widely known bad type of fat that is artificially created through partial-hydrogenation).

By looking at the different types of fat and the ratios of each within an oil, you can determine which ones are healthier and which ones you should limit.

There are many different olive oil grades. Some are more common in retail and others are more common in industrial food manufacturing.

If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between these olive oil grades, it all how do to with how they are produced. Once you get an idea of how they’re made, you can start to see the differences between each and find which one is right for you — no matter if you’re a retail buyer, if you’re in manufacturing or food service.

If you ate your cereal with skim milk for the last 10 years, you'd notice if you poured whole milk on it one morning by mistake, right? And if you poured heavy cream on instead of your routine skim milk?  Then you'd be in for a real rude awakening.

Why? The way that each dairy product is produced, what it comes from and how it's made all comes together to create unique product traits.  These characteristics make each milk product taste and feel different from each other-- even though they all originally came from the same raw ingredient.

Olive oil works in the same way. Each different quality grade is produced differently; one grade is the “first press”, while others are refined or come from a different part of the olive.  How the grade is made produces a unique oil, and you can taste (and see) the difference between each.

Have you ever seen those large racks of Sathers candy at the check out?  Many of those bags are labeled "fat free"-- as if being fat free makes them healthier.

This fat free tagline was a big hit in the 90s, when the US went through its "avoid-fat-at-all-costs" stage.  It probably even helped increase their sales.

Here's the thing though-- this candy always was fat free.  It always will be fat free.  It is, by the nature of the beast... fat free.

So what does this have to do with non-GMO?  Well the non-GMO industry is experiencing a similar labeling situation right now, particularly within the bulk oil industry.

With more and more consumers avoiding GMOs every day, they're on the look out for anything labeled as "GMO Free!" or "Non-GMO!" (rah, rah!!).  As a buyer of bulk ingredients for their food products, you probably are too.

As you're choosing your bulk oil ingredients, it's important to know which have always been non-GMO naturally, and what oils are moving away from the industry standard, back towards being non-GMO (like a special feature).

Sometimes, it's hard to know exactly what kind of oil going to work best.  If you're in the R&D stages of a new product, you'll be faced with decisions about choosing the right bulk ingredients.  Sometimes, as you begin to narrow down your search, you may be presented with more and more challenging questions.

For example, let's pretend you've been debating between Canola Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sunflower Oil for some time.  You finally make the decision to go with Sunflower Oil.  Unfortunately, you're immediatly presented with a new question: what kind of Sunflower Oil would you like?

Certain oils, especially seed oils, come in a few varieties.  For sunflower oil, there's high oleic, mid oleic and linoleic.  And as you're making your ingredient decisions, it's helpful to know the differences before you begin testing-- not after.

People are caring more and more about what they're putting in their bodies.  They're looking at ingredient labels, rejoicing over non-GMO foods, and asking for more information all them time, about where their food is coming from.  

Consumers want to be connected to what they're eating.

This was shown in the hilariously ironic Portlandia clip, where a couple eating at a restaurant go to far lengths to understand where their chicken is from and how it was raised.

So now, more than ever, how your bulk ingredients are made matters.  It matters to the people that you care about-- your target market, the people that are going to buy your product.  This includes the bulk oil ingredients that you use. 

And it's not just about what they're from made from-- it's also about how they're produced.  Was there chemicals involved?  Was the oil refined?  Was it a naturally produced oil, fresh squeezed with a poetic romantic tale?  

Either way, your customers want to know, and down the line, your ingredient can choices affect your sales.