FAQ
Find answers to commonly asked questions
Curious about Certified Origins?
Ask us anything about our brand and food at info@certifiedorigins.com
Our company is co-owned by cooperatives of growers in Italy and Spain. We source the best Evoo directly from our cooperatives and through our network of selected suppliers across the mediterranean area.
Yes. We follow strictly all the quality and transparency requirements set by each government where we source and market our Evoos. We also have a wide network of warehouses to store and deliver products in China, USA, Canada, LATAM and Europe.
All our Evoos are fully traceable to the source. We are global leaders in certified single origin Evoos (PDO and PGI) and we use BlockChain technology and the ISO 20055 certification to add further guarantee for our clients and partners on all our oils from each country of origin.
Yes! Like for wine and coffee, we can help you develop the best EVOO profile and value fit for your needs.
EVOO is defined as having good flavor and odor by the Codex Alimentarius and the International Olive Council (IOC), the two main sources of regulation over olive oil quality.
To be classified as "extra virgin," an olive oil must have a median of flaws of zero and a median of fruitiness of more than zero.
Extra virgin olive oil also has the lowest free fatty acid concentration of any non-refined olive oil, with oleic acid levels of less than 0.8 grams per 100 grams. (Free fatty acids are removed during the refining process, which is why refined olive oils have fewer of them.)
While the maximum amount of free fatty acids in an extra virgin olive oil is 0.8 grams per 100 grams, many of the best EVOOs have a free fatty acid concentration closer to 0.3 grams per 100 grams.
The milliequivalent peroxide oxygen per kilogram of oil must be less than or equal to 20, in addition to the free fatty acid content. The higher the peroxide value in an olive oil, the more oxidation has already occurred and the shorter the oil's freshness.
Yes, Aside from chemical measurements, the magnitude of three good traits and the absence of five frequent flaws are used to evaluate extra virgin olive oil.
A trained tasting panel uses a linear scale to measure the intensity of EVOO's favorable qualities – fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency.
The aroma and taste of an oil define its fruitiness. Fresh, green, mature, and ripe are all terms used to describe it.
Bitterness, on the other hand, is tasted on the tongue and is a less popular flavor in most dishes.
Its presence, on the other hand, shows that the extra virgin olive oil was prepared with fresh olives and is high in polyphenols. Bitterness, like some varieties of beer, chocolate, and coffee, is an acquired taste. It takes time to develop a proper appreciation for the flavor.
Pungency, a stinging sensation at the back of the throat associated with the presence of oleocanthal, a polyphenol, is the third good EVOO quality. Pungency, which is related to chili pepper pungency, is likewise an acquired flavor.
Producers of high-quality extra virgin olive oil must balance these good characteristics in order to generate the best possible flavor profile.
Tasting panels detect the five most common negative traits mentioned by the IOC: frostbitten, fusty, musty, rancid, and winey, in addition to the good ones. If any of these flaws are present, an olive oil cannot be classified as 'extra virgin.'
Without the use of heat or chemical solvents, EVOO is extracted mechanically.
It all starts in the olive groves. Farmers harvest their olives (by hand or with electric combs) and promptly transport the fruits to the mill.
The olives are washed and rinsed after they arrive at the mill.
To ground the olives into a paste, most modern mills employ a blade, disc, or hammer mill. Stone mills are still used in traditional mills, but they are inefficient and can decrease the quality of the final product.
The olive paste is crushed and then transferred to a malaxer, where it is gently stirred and oil droplets form. This is the point at which olive oil starts to develop its distinct scents and qualities.
The paste is transferred from the malaxer to the centrifuge, which separates the oil from the water and pomace (solid waste made up of stems and pits). In the past a hydraulic press was used to do this (hence the obsolete term cold-pressed).
The oil is then drained out and either filtered or stored in stainless steel tanks under inert gas, which is a non-reactive gas.
No heat or chemicals are used to extract the Oil from the olives and the final product can be classified as 'extra virgin' only if it passes specific chemical and organoleptic requirements, set by the International Olive Oil Council (IOC)
Yes! The monounsaturated fatty acids and bioactive components in extra virgin olive oils, such as polyphenols and vitamin E, among others, bestow a wide range of health benefits not found in other oils.
The polyphenols in EVOO are responsible for the vast majority of these health benefits, which is why virgin olive oil and refined olive oil do not have the same health benefits.
The main health benefits of EVOO can include lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as a variety of neurological illnesses.
There are, however, numerous others, ranging from better skin care and dental hygiene to a variety of other disorders linked to inflammation. In a trial to treat Covid-19, scientists in Spain are already employing supplements produced from polyphenols found in EVOO.
Thousands of peer-reviewed scholarly studies have supported these health benefits over the last 60 years.
Yes. A tomato sauce without sugar is made with “naturally” sweet tomatoes; therefore, more genuine. Sugar is a common ingredient added to sauces to remove the acidic flavor of tomatoes that don’t present the ideal Brix level. It is a shortcut to adjust or fix the taste when using lower-quality tomatoes/raw ingredients. Studies are now recognizing sugar and some sweeteners as potentially harmful to human health, especially if consumed from a young age and for extended periods.
Brix, pH, and Salinity are among the most important.
The ideal parameters are:
• pH < 4.5
• Brix 7-9 %
• Salinity < 3%
48 hrs is the ideal time frame between harvesting and processing. A short window of time is needed to get the tomatoes in the jar at their highest quality. The more time we wait, the higher the chances for the red fruit to develop mold and lose flavor and overall quality. In Certified
Origins, we prepare our sauces generally within 24 hrs and always within 48 hours from the harvest.
We can trace every ingredient used in our recipes back to the farm, thanks to the bill of lading and internal procedures, verified regularly by external audits.
Certified Origins sources tomatoes from organic land, rich in natural nutrients thanks to the long-standing farming tradition of using cover crops and rotations. The farmers stay away from intensive farming practices and avoid relying heavily on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other methods harmful to the elements naturally present in the soil. Our farmers do everything they can to protect the land they depend upon and grow naturally rich vegetables of nutrients and flavors.
In Italy, the richness of the soil composition and mild weather provides a perfect micro-climate for many popular cultivations, like wine, olives, and tomatoes. Our tomatoes are grown from flat or gently hilly lands, naturally rich in water. The sandy soil is rich with the right pH level, allowing tomatoes to grow with a natural balance of acidic and sugar levels. There is no need to add sweeteners to adjust a sauce, nor is the need to add tomato concentrate to intensify its color. The vicinity to the Mediterranean Sea helps the tomato plants grow naturally and achieve a distinctive red color in the fruit.
Our summer recipe is made with fresh tomatoes harvested, selected, and transformed exclusively during summer. This sauce requires a lot of coordination and work in having all the fresh ingredients ready to go with the tomatoes in the jars a few hours after harvesting. For this reason, it is made only once a year.
In the winter recipe, the tomatoes are harvested in summer, cooked, and stored away for later use. The ingredients are added to the cooked tomatoes and topped with a more generous pour of extra virgin olive oil. This production is available all year round and brings back the colors and aromas of the warm season during winter.
Each tomato contains 178 compounds responsible for its flavor profile.
The pedoclimatic conditions can induce changes by varying the concentrations of the various compounds. Over the ripening process, the following events take place:
• Decrease the levels of starch and soluble carbohydrates (sugars) and gradually increase the BRIX value.
• Increase in the activity of polygalacturonates, an enzyme responsible for reducing tissue compactness.
• Decrease in chlorophyll and solanine levels and increase in lycopene values, the red molecule responsible for the red color.
• Increase in ascorbic acid levels.
• Increase in the quantity of “aromatic volatile” substances and the number of “volatiles reducing “ substances.