Cold-pressed: what it really means
Below 27 °C, only mechanical processes: what the law says and why it makes a difference in the glass.
On the labels of many extra virgin olive oils, you will read “cold extracted” or “first cold pressing.” These are not advertising taglines: they are terms regulated by European legislation on the marketing of olive oil (currently EU Delegated Regulation 2022/2104), which establishes when they may be used.
The two terms
“Cold extracted” may only be written for oils obtained at temperatures below 27 °C by percolation or centrifugation of the olive paste: this is the method used by modern continuous-cycle mills. “First cold pressing” is reserved for oils obtained at temperatures below 27 °C by a first mechanical pressing in a traditional system with hydraulic presses. In both cases, the oil is obtained solely through mechanical processes, without solvents or refining.
Why temperature matters
Heating the olive paste extracts more oil, but some of the more volatile aromatic compounds—those that provide grassy and fruity notes—are lost. Working at a low temperature means sacrificing a bit of yield to preserve the oil's character.
Cold alone is not enough
Temperature is only one part of the story. Healthy olives, harvested at the right degree of ripeness and processed quickly, matter just as much: olives piled up for days ferment and develop defects that no process can correct. That is why we harvest and mill within 24 hours at our mill in Spello, and we cold extract.
