It may depend on whether the products are filtered or not, which is up to the discretion of the producer. The presence of a cloudy oil does not absolutely mean that the quality of the product has been altered. A few of our products such as “Monello” and our organic “Oilbios”, are bottled without being filtered. All the other products are usually filtered and polished with filter paper (a sort of absorbing paper with a thickness of two millimetres). During the process of bottling oil is already shiny and clear. Anyhow, unfiltered oils should be consumed relatively quickly since water particles and the residues of olive paste cause to accelerate the process of oxidation (aging) of the product.

No. The presence of solid parts (similar to grains of rice) indicate that the oil was stored at low temperature and it has frozen. This fact does absolutely not alter the quality but in fact it is a guarantee that the product was stored away from heat. Once the bottle is kept in a warm environment such as your kitchen, it will slowly return crystal clear.

Oil, like wine and other non-industrial products, has characteristics, which differ from year to year; furthermore during the year it tends to become sweeter as it ages. Even drought conditions of a particular year can make oil increasingly bitter! In addition, there is certainly a difference in freshness and taste between oil bottled in October and the one bottled in November (.. in November the new oil is available …). The taste of new oil is more intense and more lively! The differences you find might be caused by the above factors.

In some cases non-filtered oil, due to changes in temperature in warehouse, forms sediments on the bottom of the bottle. The product does not have any problems.

When oil tastes rancid, its colour usually has a red-orange hue. We invite you to verify whether the taste you describe as rancid is not on the contrary, the sensation of light bitter and spicy which is typical of high quality olive oil produced with fresh and immediately crushed olives. Any defects of this kind depend on storage methods; sometimes you only need to place the product in direct sunlight for a few days to accelerate aging. In this case, please inform your supplier and request to replace the product. The supplier will send us the bottle and we will investigate storage conditions.

It means that the product has deteriorated. This phenomenon is caused by the degradation of chlorophyll, originally present in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and by predominant reddish colour of Beta Carotene, which is practically the precursor of the Vitamin A. In fact, it may happen that by being exposed to intense light or heat while being stored in the warehouse oil starts to undergo the oxidation process and changes the colour.

The sensation of light bitter and spicy is typical of every quality olive oil produced with fresh olives, which have been immediately crushed. This particular characteristic of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil is caused by the presence of very powerful natural antioxidants (polyphenols) to which modern medicine attributes a fundamental role in defending human organism from oxidation and cell aging. It goes without saying that good oil should have the taste of olives as cherry marmalade should have the taste of cherries. If you happen to choose our top oil, FRUTTATO MONINI, you will notice that the above bitter and spicy sensations are even more stressed. The statement saying that oil leaving a pungent sensation in the back of the throat is acid, is only a stereotype: acidity can not be tasted and the spicy sensation in the throat is typical of fresh and young oils which contain healthy substances such as polyphenols and tocopherols (vitamin E), powerful natural antioxidants.

Often big distribution chains draw consumers’ attention on some particularly advantageous products, the so-called “traffic builders”.
We are not going to focus on complex issues, but only underline some important points:

1. The oil contained in MONINI products you buy in promotion is the same as the non-promotional products. Buy enough for three to four months and do not stock up too much, in particular if you buy our oil before October because in November MONINI has the new, fresher and more flavoured oil.

2. Sometimes big chains sell this traffic builder below cost because their aim is to attract consumers to buy other products, as well.

The natural colour of Extra Virgin olive oil is green, darker or lighter with more or less intense yellow hues. Its variability from dark to light green, where the yellow colour is predominant, is not due to its chemical and sensorial qualities.
In general, the colour of olive oil from the same area is quite uniform and it clearly depends on the cultivars of the olive (its variety). Although, this is not always true; in fact, if olive oil is produced with green olives, its colour will be more intense, whereas if it is produced with riper olives, it tends to be yellow. Furthermore, the oil colour also depends on the type of extraction plant (traditional or modern by centrifugation) and also on how the plant works.
We suggest that you choose the product with the taste you prefer and not be influenced by colour! Only when the oil colour has reddish hues, it indicates that oil has deteriorated because it was not protected from light.