Unfortunately, that's not the case. When olive oil is adulterated with oils that have lower smoke points, and that adulterated oil is then used under heat, for cooking, the adulterant oils can break down and yield toxic compounds (e.g., aldehydes and hydroperoxids). [1]

EDIT: Also, as noted by a sibling comment, the Ω3:Ω6 ratios for some of the adulterant oils can be wildly different from olive oil, in sub-optimal, or even deleterious ways.

EDIT 2: And what about food allergies? Suppose someone with a hazelnut allergy buys hazelnut oil-adulterated olive oil (they're fairly similar in terms of fatty acid contents, so it's a somewhat common adulterant). Still think it doesn't make a difference?

(Also edited for tone.)

[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050617065306.ht...

" Virgin olive oil was, amongst all the oils studied, that which took longer to produce this type of compounds and produced a lower concentration of them."

I am going to assume (and hope) that that was an off-the-shelf sample, which includes the adulteration you are talking about. Unfortunately, there no further information available.

I can't imagine a scenario where a manufacturer would be adulterating EVOO with another oil that has a lower smoke point -- there just aren't any that would be make economic sense, as far as I know.

On the other hand, refined sunflower and safflower oil have higher smoke points than EVOO, and the flavor loss due to refining would let them blend in.

Personally I'd be really pissed about getting cut olive oil because usually it's Sunflower or Safflower oil and both (along with Grapeseed Oil) have massive quantities of highly-undesirable Omega-6. Might as well have gotten the substantially cheaper corn or soybean oils because they're just as bad for you.

Huh? What world are you living in? I mean, maybe you have five different olive oils in your cupboard and maybe their labels had nothing to do with the ones you chose. But do you really think that the average reader on HN (or average purchaser in US) chooses which brand of olive oil to buy by taste? Holy moly, out of touch. I suppose next you'll be telling us that a wine or winery's name or a wine bottle's label have nothing to do with why people choose it? Welcome to the world of "marketing".

EVOO isn't Coca-Cola. There's no standard flavor. It's the same as complaining about counterfeit wine -- if it tastes good for the price, does it ultimately matter if it's "counterfeit" or not? The flavor is the flavor.

So, "Fuck 'em if they don't know enough to know they're getting cheated?" Nice.

Because you miss out on the chance to get angry?

As other have mentioned the inferior oils might not be as healthy, this might be a reason to care not just 'cause'.

Adulterated olive oil isn't even labeled that it's adulterated, let alone what with.

If you want actual olive oil, Trader Joe's Kalamata oil is probably the easiest to get ahold of. I haven't tried the California Estate oils, but I hear they are also good (if fresh)