The US Department of Agriculture Recommends Olive Oil for Deep Frying
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently published a guide to safe home deep-fat frying, in which it officially debunks one of the most persistent myths about olive oil - namely, that it should not be used for frying.
New studies include extra virgin olive oil in the list of preferred cooking oils and reflect the latest research on the health benefits of cooking with olive oil at higher temperatures.
In its guide “Deep Fat Frying and Food Safety” the USDA names olive oil as a recommended oil for deep frying. Contrary to the popular belief that olive oil has a low or even moderate smoke point, the USDA includes it in its list of oils with a "high smoke point", alongside corn, sesame and sunflower oil. (The temperature given by the USDA is 210 °C for virgin olive oil, which is lower than the standard smoke point of olive oil - 242 °C.)
In fact, more and more studies refute the idea that olive oil cannot be used at higher temperatures, for example for frying. In his recent book “Cook, Taste, Learn”, Dr. Guy Crosby, adjunct associate professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, reports on a “well-controlled study using extra virgin olive oil to prepare French fries at 180 °C, in which there was a threefold decrease in the antioxidant activity of the oil after six consecutive fryings of 10 minutes each (1 hour total frying time), using the same batch of oil (the oil was cooled between each frying), which shows that the antioxidants do their job, protecting the fatty acids from oxidation.”
Does frying with olive oil destroy its health benefits?
In 2020 the University of Barcelona published a study which found that virgin extra virgin olive oil retains significant amounts of polyphenols and antioxidants at normal cooking temperatures (between 120°C and 170°C). The researchers simulated home cooking conditions and concluded that high cooking temperature can affect some individual polyphenolic compounds, but the levels of antioxidants and polyphenols remain relatively high. Such, for example, are vitamins C and E, which play a crucial role in preventing cell damage from free radicals. In addition, extra virgin olive oil contains 500% more antioxidants than other common cooking oils, including coconut oil and avocado oil.
The health benefits of frying with olive oil do not stop there. In a food technology journal, scientists found that the phenols and antioxidants from virgin olive oil are transferred to the foods fried in it. For the experiment, the researchers prepared potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and pumpkin in three ways - boiled, fried and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil, in water, and in a water/oil mixture. After measuring the antioxidant and phenolic compound content of the raw vegetables before and after cooking, the results were remarkable: the vegetables prepared with extra virgin olive oil contained phenols that had not been identified in their raw forms, including oleuropein, pinoresinol, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol - all compounds transferred from the olive oil.
Is there a downside to frying with olive oil?
Dr. Crosby says he does not hesitate to cook with olive oil. Some people avoid it out of concern that it will add too strong a flavor to the food. But according to Crosby, that is a myth. He refers to a study done while he was an editor at the American talk show America's Test Kitchen. For others, the price may be a drawback, but not according to Crosby. “Although someone may say that high-quality olive oil is not worth its high price if it is used only for cooking, I reassure myself by knowing that its high levels of phenolic antioxidants, such as hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, and the unique anti-inflammatory agent oleocanthal, guarantee that its beneficial ingredients are preserved in the cooking process.” In other words, even when you cook with it, you get what you pay for!
We hope that the growing body of research on the subject, taken together with the updated recommendations of the US Department of Agriculture, will give more and more home cooks the confidence to use olive oil, whether for sauteing or deep frying. That is why we at Elly’s carefree enjoy Coquere’s chips, knowing that we are choosing food that is not only tasty but also healthy.