The number of people adopting a vegan diet grew by 1 million people in 2023, according to Food Manufacturer. The surge in people looking to take up the vegan way of living isn’t slowing down any time soon. Finder found that 6.4% of UK adults planned to switch to a vegan diet in 2025. This translates to around 3.4 million people. But is olive oil suitable for a vegan diet?
As vegan popularity grows, it’s no surprise that there’s an increase in curiosity about what is vegan-friendly and what isn’t. While that often includes food products like cheese and butter, people rarely think about cooking oils. Are they vegan-friendly? What about olive oil? Is that vegan-friendly, too? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Is olive oil vegan?
In short, yes. Olive oil is vegan-friendly. It’s a plant-based food, with no animal products being used in the process, from start to finish. In order to know that olive oil is vegan, we must first understand the process of how it’s made. Firstly, olives are harvested from the trees and transported to a production facility nearby. All twigs, stems, dirt and leaves are removed from the fruits and the olives are then ground into a paste.
The paste is then placed in a centrifuge in order to separate the oil from the fruit. Sometimes, heat or chemical solvents can be used to make the process more efficient, although this step is removed for the processing of virgin olive oil. After the oil has been extracted from the fruit, it undergoes further processing to remove unpleasant smells and flavours.
After this, the oil is filtered (or racked) in steel tanks in order to remove sediment and impurities. At no point throughout the process are animal products used. The only time an animal of any kind is involved is for the pollination of the plant itself, which can be enough for some vegans to avoid the product altogether. But why else would they avoid using olive oil?
Why do some vegans avoid olive oil?
While olive oil is considered to be vegan-friendly, those who have chosen the vegan diet as a lifestyle choice can be reluctant to cook with it. There are multiple reasons for this, from environmental impacts to rancidity concerns, here are a few reasons why vegans might choose an alternative oil to cook with:
Not all olive oils are compliant with a vegan diet
Just like with most foods, olive oil isn’t always compliant with a vegan diet. Whether it be as a result of being pollinated by insects, or for another reason, vegans are more likely to avoid olive oil, opting for vegan-friendly alternatives, that have been labelled as such.
There are some concerns over rancidity
There is a widespread myth that olive oil cannot be used on medium-to-high heat as it has a low smoke point. A smoke point refers to the temperature at which the fatty acids in the oil start to burn, degrade and turn rancid. However, olive oil has a rather high smoke point, contrary to common beliefs. This is because it has a high content of monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. This makes olive oil just as suitable for cooking as other cooking oil options.
Environmental impact is questioned
Although all types of oil will have an impact on the environment in some way, olive oil can be a little more impactful than others. Olive farming is often associated with soil erosion and excessive amounts of water. The decision to avoid it is an entirely personal decision.
The process can use a high amount of water
Olive trees alone require copious amounts of water in order to survive. Often, olive trees grow in locations that lack natural rainwater. So they will need to be watered manually to produce the fruit needed to make a profit. According to Iliada, around 14,700 cubic metres of water is required to produce a tonne of olive oil. This is quite a lot more than is needed to produce other types of oil, such as linseed oil, peanut oil and coconut oil. This excessive dependence on water is another way in which the environment is affected.
Cater Oils is pleased to provide customers with fresh cooking oil supplies, including the supply of rapeseed oil, olive oil, vegetable oil and more. In addition, we also offer a free waste oil collection service. We will either give you cash or a credit note for a fresh supply of cooking oil when you need it most. If you would like further information about our fresh supply of cooking oil, our waste cooking oil collection service, or how we recycle your used cooking oil, then get in touch with a member of our friendly, knowledgeable team today – we’re always happy to hear from you.
