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Is Olive Oil Gluten Free? (Recommended Brands and Olive Oil Brands to Avoid)


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Is Olive Oil Gluten Free? Olive oil is a delicious condoment that’s everyone’s favorite oil to cook with and drizzle over salads. But people wonder, “Is olive oil gluten free?” If you’re on a gluten free diet, because you have Celiac, a gluten intolerance or IBS, you can be rest assured that you’ll know if olive oil has gluten or not after reading this quick article. I’ve also included a list of gluten free olive oil brands to buy, to avoid, and my picks for the healthiest gluten free olive oil brands.

photo of olive oil in a glass decanter with olives on a table with text that says "is olive oil gluten free?"

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Table of Contents

Is Olive Oil Gluten Free?

Yes, olive oil is gluten free! Isn’t that great news? We should shout it from the rooftops.

To understand why olive oil is gluten free we should look at what olive oil is and the ingredients it’s made from. By definition olive oil is: An oil pressed from ripe olives.

Olives are gluten free since they’re in the fruit family and fruit is naturally free of any gluten. That means if you’re on a gluten free diet you can enjoy olive oil and foods that contain it.

Is All Olive Oil Gluten Free?

While olive oil is unilaterally considered gluten free, not all olive oils are. Olive oils would not be gluten free for one of two reasons.

  1. Gluten could be added to the olive oil as a thickener. 
  2. The factory where the olive oil is made could also be processing foods that contain gluten. In this instance cross contamination is a possibility and companies won’t say that the olive oil is gluten free for liability reasons. 

So when you buy olive oil it’s always important to CHECK THE LABELS. But to make your life easier I’ve compiled a list of brands that guarantee that their olive oils are truly gluten free.

Is olive oil good for celiacs?

Olive oil is a great oil to use for celiacs. All pure olive oils are naturally gluten free. If olive oil has added flavors to it it may have gluten. Don’t forget to read the label. The only time pure olive oil would contain gluten is if it has been cross contaminated with gluten.

Is Bertolli Olive Oil gluten free?

Yes! Bertolli Olive Oil is gluten free.

Is butter and olive oil gluten free?

Yes! Both butter and olive oil are gluten free. If you want to read more about why butter is gluten free and learn how to avoid gluten in butters read this article, “Is Butter Gluten Free?

How is Olive Oil Made?

Olive oil is simply made by pressing fresh olives until the oil comes out. This can be done at home or on a larger scale for commercial production.

Pressing is the healthiest way to make olive oil. First the olives and their pits are ground up into a paste. Then they are pressed between plates exerting a high amount of pressure so that the oil can be extracted.

Pressed olive oil is superior to olive oils that have been produced through chemical and high heat extractions for four reasons.

  1. It’s more environmentally friendly.
  2. Cold pressed olive oil doesn’t get heated above 120 degrees which keeps the nutrients in tact. Heating oil above 120 degrees will damage it.
  3. There are a ton of nutrients in raw (cold pressed) olive oil including vitamin E, K and A.
  4. Storage: Cold pressed olive oil has a long shelf life because it has a lot of monounsaturated fatty acids called oleic acid which prevents olive oil from going rancid.

Gluten Free Olive Oil Brands

Olive Oil Brands to Avoid

There are a number of reasons to avoid the following olive oil brands because they’re overall quality is low. For example many of these companies dilute their olive oil with other types of oils like soybean oil. The oils that have been diluted often have flavor, fragrance and color added to them so that they can be passed off as pure olive oil.

Another reason to avoid these brands is because of the way they are produced. In the section above we discussed why cold pressing is the best way to extract oil from olives. These companies use high heat and chemicals to draw the olive oil out of the olives. These chemicals and heat denature the olive oil and can make them carcinogenic because the oil gets heated past it’s smoke point.

The simple truth is that you get what you pay for. Bargain olive oil is usually not the real deal. It is essential to purchase high quality oils. If you’re on a budget there are plenty of other areas where you can cut expenses without compromising your family’s health. For instance, instead of meat you can make lentils which are just as high in protein but cost pennies to make.

These are the five brands of olive oil I would Avoid:

  • Carapelli
  • Mezzetta
  • Mazola
  • Primadonna
  • Pompeian
photo of olive oil brands to avoid including Pompeian, caravelle, premadonna, mazola, mezzetta

How to Test The Quality of Olive Oil At Home

Does reading this article make you second guess the quality of the olive oil you have in your pantry. A lot of readers may be surprised to find their favorite brands of oil are on the avoid list.

You don’t have to guess whether or not the olive oil you have is of good quality or not, you can test it at home!

This is how to test olive oil at home:

Place the olive oil in the fridge over night. If the oil turns solid, then it’s pure olive oil, but if it remains in a liquid state it has been diluted with other kinds of oils.

Another indication that olive oil is good quality is if it is stored in a dark glass bottle or metal container. The dark color keeps light from hitting the oil because exposure to sunlight causes olive oil to go rancid.

Which Brands of Gluten Free Olive Oil Are the Best?

While all of the brands in my initial “gluten free olive oil brand” list are gluten free, upon closer inspection some are higher quality than others. Remember, just because an olive oil is labeled gluten free does not mean it’s pure olive oil. It also doesn’t necessarily mean that the olive oil was harvested through the cold press method.

In this section you’ll find a list of my favorite gluten free olive oil brands based on product quality and which brands best support over all health.

Bragg Olive Oil

The Braggs brand is known for their superior quality and high standards. While Braggs is mostly known for their raw apple cider vinegar, they also sell raw, cold pressed organic olive oil. This olive oil is also the most affordable option if you buy it in bulk on amazon. You can buy 128 oz of olive oil for 50 dollars!

Ellora Farms Olive Oil

The Ellora Farms Extra Virgin Olive Oil is cold pressed and is certified Non GMO. The oil has a great taste that earned it a gold medal at the Mediterranean International Olive Oil Competition in 2019.

Mary Ruth’s Ice Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil

MaryRuth’s unfiltered raw organic olive oil is harvested in Greece. The olives are harvested by hand and processed without any heat using the cold press method. MaryRuth’s has their own cold press method that they call the Ice Press Method which presses the olives at a colder temperature then traditional cold press methods. The oil is also protected in a high quality glass bottle which blocks ultraviolet rays from turning the oil rancid.

photo of healthiest olive oil brands including barges, Mary ruth's organic olive oil, ellora

Common Gluten Containing Ingredients Added to Prepackaged Food

While olive oil is considered completely gluten free and safe to consume. If you buy salad dressings that contain olive oil, olive oil that has been infused with something or otherwise has flavor added, it’s important to read the labels to make sure that non of the ingredients present contain gluten.

Here is a list of common ingredients that contain gluten to look out for. Even if food claims to be gluten free, it can still be contain trace amounts of gluten. Generally speaking, a food is considered to be gluten free if it has fewer than 20 parts per million of gluten. Tiny amounts of gluten like 20 parts per million aren’t enough to bother average people.

Either way, take a look at this list of ingredients. The more familiar with gluten containing food additives you are the less often you’ll accidentally ingest gluten or feed it to someone else by accident.

  1. Wheat (bran, germ and starch)
  2. Malt (since it’s made from barley)
  3. Cracker Meal 
  4. Soy Sauce
  5. Kinkel
  6. Vital Gluten
  7. Wheatgerm
  8. Sulfosccinate
  9. Seitan 
  10. Rusk
  11. Teriyaki Sauce
  12. Durum 
  13. Semolina
  14. Einkorn
  15. Emmer
  16. Farina triticale
  17. Farro or faro (spelt)
  18. Graham flour
  19. Hydrolyzed wheat protein
  20. Modified wheat starch
  21. Seitan

Is olive oil gf google web story!

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4 Comments

  1. Thank you Maren.

    You left out California Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Argentina, Portugal,Chile and California. California Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil is on several top 10 reports. 48 cold pressed ounces for $18.99 available at most grocery stores. Just wondering why no report. I’ve been using for 3 years. I’m a vegetarian.

    Thanks

    1. hahaha email me and i’ll send it to you or follow my insta. It’s actually on instagram somewhere on my personal… I could post it on eating works. There is a progression of purple it was based on the day. Thanks Gail.

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