What happens if I eat rancid oil
Cleopatra, who boasted an enviable skin, used oils, especially olive oil, her beauty ally, which she combined with honey, whipped milk, cucumbers, salt or olive pits to make her scrub, her mask or her cream.
Since then, oils have become part of our beauty routine and we always have some on hand to save us from irritation, moisturize our skin and hair after sunbathing, soften scars, or simply use them for pure pleasure.
Vegetable oils and essential oils are different from each other because they are extracted in a different way; while vegetable oils are obtained from the fruit or seed of plants, essential oils come directly from aromatic plants. Vegetable oils are applied directly to the skin, while essential oils are diluted in a vegetable oil base or cream.
It is best that the oil does not come into contact with the air; therefore, the best formats are those that avoid this contact and the packaging is dark. This way you avoid that beauty oil smells so bad, so rancid.
What can rancid olive oil be used for?
2) Rancid smell and taste. Most of the oil in bad condition available to consumers will correspond to rancid oils. That is to say, to extra virgin olive oils that have been oxidizing little by little, in the stores or in the kitchens of the consumers, and have ended up going rancid.
It is not possible to recover an olive oil that is already rancid. It is oxidized and irreversible. A mistake that can sometimes be made is to try to mix it with another extra virgin olive oil that is in good condition to compensate. This practice is not recommended because in the rancid oil there are already precursors to rancidify more quickly the fresh oil with which we have mixed it.
The best-before date is set by the packer at the time of packaging. The packer decides this according to the state of the oil and its analysis, the conditions of conservation in the commercial chain until its purchase by the final consumer.
For example, if the packer has a very stable extra virgin, of the picual variety, packaged in opaque glass, he can be confident that its properties and conditions of being extra virgin will be preserved for a longer time than a less stable extra virgin, such as arbequina, packaged in transparent PET.
How to prevent oil from going rancid
Rancidity occurs when there is a breakdown of fatty acids in the oil due to oxidation. Different environmental factors can accelerate oxidation, such as exposure to air, ultraviolet light and warm temperatures.
“Good oil producers, and particularly olive oil, will try to minimize those exposures,” explains Paul Miller, a well-known Melbourne-based olive oil expert and former president of the Australian Olive Association. “Now, in any oil extraction process there has to be air, but the idea is that once you have the oil, you minimize your exposure to oxygen.”
The first thing you should do once you’ve bought your olive oil is to smell it. A good oil will have a fruity or vegetal aroma, with hints of olive and maybe even a grassy aroma. It will smell fresh and clean. However, a rancid olive oil retains a waxy smell, like a crayon, putty or even old nuts.
Consuming rancid oil is not hazardous to your health; however, it does not contain the benefits found in a quality olive oil. Oxidation occurs naturally in our bodies, and the antioxidants found in olive oils like Carbonell can help protect against certain diseases and even aging. Rancid olive oil contains few antioxidants, as they are removed during the oxidation process.
How to remove rancidity from oil
First of all we have to make it clear what rancidity is and how to identify when a product is in that condition. Rancidity occurs when there is a breakdown of fatty acids in the oil due to oxidation. Different environmental factors can accelerate oxidation, such as exposure to air, ultraviolet light and warm temperatures.
For many it can be a difficult task to identify if an olive bottle is in poor condition because when we are shopping we do not have the privilege of opening the cap and smelling the contents. The easiest way to choose an olive oil is to be sure to choose olive oils that have colored glass bottles as that tint helps to hold light, as an indicator of rancidity would be oils in clear bottles that are turning brown. It is likely that these have been on the shelf for a long time.
It should be noted that consumption of rancid oil is not dangerous to health, but it no longer contains the benefits found in a quality olive oil as oxidation occurs naturally in our bodies, and the antioxidants found in olive oils such as Carbonell, can help protect against certain diseases and even aging. Rancid olive oil contains few antioxidants, as they are removed through the oxidation process.