Olive oil or olive-ish oil? Pomace oil is just the leftovers dressed up

So you’re in the oil aisle. One bottle says “extra virgin olive oil,” and the other, a bit cheaper, says “olive pomace oil.” You squint. They both have olives on the label. They both say "olive" in big friendly letters. The pomace oil is cheaper. Sold, right?

Hold on. Let’s talk about what you’re actually pouring into your pan.

First, what is olive pomace oil?
Imagine making fresh orange juice. You squeeze the oranges, and then you’re left with a pulpy, soggy mess. Now imagine scraping that mess off the juicer, blasting it with heat, washing it with chemicals, and squeezing it again to get a few more drops of “juice.”

That’s basically what olive pomace oil is.

It’s made from the leftover pulp, skins, and pits after all the good stuff has been pressed out of the olives. To get oil from that dry mess, manufacturers use high heat and chemical solvents. Then they refine it and mix in a tiny bit of real olive oil to make it taste acceptable.

Still sound like a good deal?
A quick olive oil family tree

To understand why this matters, here’s the olive oil lineup:

• Extra virgin olive oil: Cold-pressed. No heat. No chemicals. Pure. Packed with antioxidants. Great flavour.
• Virgin olive oil: Also cold-pressed, but from slightly riper or lower-grade olives. Still natural. Still good.
• Olive pomace oil: The reprocessed scraps, chemically treated, with a touch of virgin oil thrown in.

You can see the drop-off.

So why is pomace oil even a thing?

Because it’s cheap. It has a high smoke point, which makes it popular in restaurants for frying. And it’s technically still “olive oil,” which lets brands put a nice Mediterranean-looking label on the bottle.

But nutritionally? It's been stripped of almost everything that makes olive oil good for you. The polyphenols, antioxidants, and healthy plant compounds are mostly gone. It’s the olive oil version of instant coffee: useful in a pinch, but not something you sip for the benefits.

The real cost of saving a few bucks
That small price cut may not be worth it in the long run. If you’re buying olive oil for health reasons, pomace oil isn’t going to deliver. You’re basically cooking with a refined vegetable oil that used to be olives in a past life.

And while rare, there have been concerns in the past about residues from the chemical solvents used in the extraction process. Not exactly what you signed up for when you pictured heart-healthy Mediterranean cooking.

What to do instead
If extra virgin olive oil feels too pricey for everyday cooking, try this:

Use EVOO raw: Save it for salads, dips, and finishing dishes. A little goes a long way.

Cook with regular virgin olive oil or even light olive oil: Still better than pomace, and less expensive than extra virgin.

Mix oils: Use a blend of EVOO and another neutral oil like avocado or sunflower for high-heat cooking.