Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil is a meaningless buzzword, simple as that. These days cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil labels are more of a marketing ploy trying to convince customers to purchase high-quality olive oil.
Did you know that all extra virgin olive oils are cold-pressed?
Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil indicates that the olive oil was extracted by mechanical means at temperatures below 27ºC.
The use of the cold-pressed term is redundant; under the international standards now in effect worldwide, for olive oil to be labelled as "virgin", you must extract by mechanical means at temperatures that will not alter the oil. Basically, all extra virgin olive oils are cold-pressed.
Cited sources:
- EUR-Lex access to European Union Law, COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) on marketing standards for olive oil, No 29/2012 (2012)
- Mchugh, T., How olive oil is processed, Institute of Food Technologists,2015