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When it comes to extra virgin olive oil, quality starts with fresh, healthy olives - but it doesn’t end there. One of the most critical steps in maintaining that quality is filtering the oil. While often overlooked, this decision makes a big difference in both flavor and health benefits.
To the un-informed consumer unfiltered olive oil, straight out of the separator and not yet properly prepared, sometimes looks more appealing. The human eye interprets a greener, more opaque colour with more freshness. The reality is different when it comes to olive oil: when it has bits in it, it spoils quickly.
Freshly made olive oil out of the mill machinery still contains:
Vegetation water
Tiny bits of olive skin, pulp, pit and
in some cases, unwanted debris that has not been washed off the olives with clean water before going to extraction
These remnants give the oil a cloudy appearance, but they do more harm than good. Instead of enhancing flavor or nutrition, they accelerate fermentation, oxidation, and the breakdown of key nutrients - especially polyphenols, the prized antioxidants linked to olive oil’sheart-protective and its many other health properties.
Bottled unfiltered olive oil is often displayed in clear bottles which are not protecting the oil from one of its main enemies, which is light. This is done for marketing reasons. In reality the olive oil is often already spoiled by the time it arrives on your kitchen counter.
Filtering olive oil through a paper filter using gravity is not to be confused with refining. Filtering is a natural mechanical process that does not change the substance of the oil or interfere with its natural compounds. Filtering just gives you the actual oil instead of solids and water that don't belong in it, but increase its weight and bulk it up.
Refining olive oil means using chemicals to deodorise oil that is rancid or has other taste and odour defects. Refining is used for low qualities of olive oil.
Polyphenols are powerful natural compounds found in high-quality extra virgin olive oil. They help reduce oxidative stress and support cardiovascular health. But they’re sensitive to degradation. In unfiltered oil, moisture and organic particles create the perfect environment for rapid polyphenol loss.
That means cloudy, unfiltered oil often has a muchshorter useful life, weaker health claims, and diminished flavor over time.
So why filter olive oil? Because it:
Preserves antioxidants like polyphenols
Delivers a cleaner, more stable flavor
Improves nutritional value
Filtering is not just a technical step - it’s a quality commitment. It requires proper equipment, slows production, and adds cost for the producer. It means more work to the producer today, but ensures the oil maintains its integrity from mill to bottle. A producer who doesn't filter saves time. Oftentimes when the filtering step is skipped it is a strong indication that other important steps such as thoroughly washing the olives clean of any deposits of mud or sprays are skipped too.
Many consumers were led to believe that cloudy olive oil is more “authentic”, "unprocessed" or “natural.” But in reality, cloudiness simply means the oil contains suspended solids and water. These lead to:
Off-flavors like muddy, musty, or grubby notes
Faster spoilage
Loss of antioxidants
Reduced useful life
And after a few weeks, even the cloudy look disappears as particles settle - leaving behind an oil with a mass of sludgy sediment at the bottom of its container. This sediment continues to spoil the oil.
It is often claimed by producers who leave their olive oil unfiltered, that by not filtering it the olive oil retains about 10% more polyphenols. That however is not worth anything if these polyphenols then are hurt by all the suspended solids in the oil and deteriorate at a much faster rate than the initially gained 10%. What good does a polyphenols report at the time of extraction do, when just a short time thereafter they are destroyed by the debris left in every bottle?
Some producers even exploit this perception of deceptive authenticity by adding water and emulsifying the oil to create artificial cloudiness. This practice is:
Cheaper and faster than correct and proper production
More prone to spoilage
Marketed as premium despite significantly lower quality
This isn’t traditional or artisanal - it’s misleading. And it’s unfortunately becoming more common in the olive oil market.
At its core, authentic extra virgin olive oil is about careful, hygienic and complete production, not shortcuts and trickery. Filtering protects the oil’s flavor, freshness, and health benefits. Cloudiness sells a false image - at the cost of consumer trust and product integrity.
If you’re looking for high-quality olive oil, look beyond appearances. Choose producers who filter with care and stand by the integrity of their oil.
Above is an image of what your fine extra virgin olive oil should look like.
Extra virgin olive oil comes in a variety of different hues. In olive oil sommelier school we are taught that color is notan indication of quality, as so many parameters influence it that have nothing to do with quality. The clarity of a chemically unprocessed and unrefined extra virgin olive oil is and important quality factor.
Cloudy oil isn’t better - it means instability.
Filtered extra virgin olive oil lasts longer, is cleaner and tastes cleaner.
Polyphenols are essential - protect them through proper filtering.
Don’t fall for emulsified oils pretending to be “raw” or “authentic.”
