Okay, so I’ve been trying to eat a little healthier lately, and everyone keeps saying olive oil is the way to go. I’ve always just grabbed whatever was cheapest, but I figured it was time to actually look at what I was buying. So, I picked up a bottle of Bertolli olive oil – you know, the one you see everywhere – and decided to really check out the ingredients.
Figuring Out What’s Inside
First, I grabbed the bottle. I looked for the ingredients list. Seriously, I was expecting some big, complicated list, but it was so much simpler than I thought.

I turned the bottle around, squinting at the tiny print. I flipped the bottle every different way. Finally, I found something that was hard to read.
The Big Reveal (It’s Not That Big)
I carefully read every word.
- Refined Olive Oils: Okay, I’ve got to admit, I had to look this one up. It has been treated to remove some of the flaws or strong flavors from lower-quality olives.
- Virgin Olive Oils: This, is the good stuff, apparently. It’s made from pure olives, with no extra processing.
I have finished reading the ingredients.
I was expecting, like, a paragraph of hard-to-pronounce chemicals. I’m kinda relieved. It’s all just… olives.