Is cold pressed olive oil the same as extra virgin?

No. Extra virgin is a quality grade, defined by chemical limits such as free acidity of 0.80% or less and a tasting panel finding zero defects. Cold pressed describes how the oil was made: the olive paste stayed below 27 °C. A cold pressed oil can still fail the extra virgin grade if the fruit was damaged or stored too long, and a label can say extra virgin without making any temperature claim.

What does "first cold pressed" mean?

In EU law, "first cold pressing" may appear only on virgin or extra virgin oil obtained below 27 °C from a first mechanical pressing of the olive paste in a traditional hydraulic press. Most oil today comes from continuous centrifuges, where there is no second pressing. That oil may say "cold extraction" instead. Outside the EU the phrase is often used loosely, without a legal definition behind it.

Is cold pressed olive oil better?

Cool processing protects the fresh green aroma compounds, and heating the paste much above 27 °C can produce a heated or cooked off-flavour. But colder is not automatically richer in polyphenols. A 2021 study in Foods found that malaxing at 18 °C instead of 25 °C lowered total phenols in all three Italian cultivars tested. Harvest timing and speed to the mill usually matter more than a few degrees.

Can you cook with cold pressed olive oil?

Yes. The low temperature applies only at the mill and says nothing about how the oil behaves in your pan. A cold pressed extra virgin oil with low free acidity handles everyday sautéing and roasting well. Long, very hot frying will use up its polyphenols and aroma, so many cooks keep their freshest bottle for finishing dishes and salads.

Reading the label #5

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22 September 2026 · 3 min read

What Is Cold Pressed Olive Oil? What the 27 °C Label Really Promises

Quick Answer

Cold pressed olive oil is oil extracted from the olive paste without the paste going above 27 °C. In the EU that is a regulated label: "first cold pressing" is reserved for traditional hydraulic presses and "cold extraction" for modern centrifuges. It describes processing temperature only — not freshness, acidity or polyphenol content.

Cold pressed olive oil is oil extracted from crushed olives without the olive paste being heated above 27 °C (80.6 °F). In the European Union the phrase is regulated: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 lets a label say "first cold pressing" only for oil from a traditional hydraulic press, and "cold extraction" for oil separated by centrifuge. Either way, it is a promise about processing temperature — nothing more.

Pressed or extracted: the two legal terms

Most oil sold today has not been pressed at all. Modern mills crush the olives, knead the paste slowly in a malaxer, then spin the oil out in a horizontal centrifuge called a decanter. EU labelling rules reflect this:

First cold pressing: virgin or extra virgin oil obtained below 27 °C from a first mechanical pressing of the paste in a traditional hydraulic press.
Cold extraction: virgin or extra virgin oil obtained below 27 °C by percolation or centrifugation of the paste.

So on a bottle from a modern continuous mill, "cold extracted" is the accurate term, and "first" is a leftover from the era of stacked mats and repeat pressings. Outside the EU, including the US, "cold pressed" has no legal definition, and it appears freely on labels.

Is all extra virgin olive oil cold pressed?

Many guides say yes, and that part is a myth. The International Olive Council trade standard requires virgin oils to be obtained "under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil", but it names no temperature. The 27 °C figure exists only for the optional label terms above. An oil malaxed at 30 °C can still grade extra virgin if its acidity, peroxide, UV readings and tasting panel pass — it just cannot claim to be cold extracted.

The reverse also holds: cold pressing does not make an oil extra virgin. Bruised fruit, or olives left in sacks for days before milling, can produce defective oil at any temperature.

Colder is not automatically better

This is the part the marketing skips. Warmer paste releases more oil, which is why mills are tempted to heat it — but the effect on quality is not a simple slope.

Aroma generally favours cool processing. The green, cut-grass notes come from volatile C6 compounds, and they fade as malaxation temperature rises. Well above 27 °C, panels start to detect a heated or cooked defect.
Polyphenols behave differently. In a 2021 study in *Foods* (Veneziani and colleagues), malaxing at 18 °C instead of 25 °C lowered total phenols in all three cultivars: 720.8 → 636.7 mg/kg in Moraiolo, 387.6 → 349.7 in Peranzana. Phenols dissolve into the oil more readily when the paste is slightly warmer. A 2020 study in *Molecules* (Diamantakos and colleagues) likewise found oleocanthal and oleacein rising as malaxation moved from 22 °C to 28 and 32 °C.

The practical sweet spot is cool but not cold. And no routine analysis on a lot report can show what temperature an oil was made at, so the phrase is only as good as the producer behind it.

What matters more than the label

Time between tree and mill is the bigger lever. Olives waiting in sacks warm up, bruise and start to break their own fat down, which raises free acidity and costs polyphenols long before the paste ever reaches the malaxer. A harvest date and measured values tell you more than the words "cold pressed".

In Milas the early-harvest weeks fall in October and November, when afternoons can still be warm, so our Memecik olives are picked green and milled the same day in a closed system, kept below 27 °C and away from air. The result is visible in the published lot values: acidity ≤0.3%, peroxide ≤10 and polyphenols above 350 mg/kg. You can compare them yourself on the Ultra Premium 500 ml page, or browse the whole olive oil range. For the grade itself, read what extra virgin actually means; for the harvest side, what early harvest olive oil is.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is cold pressed olive oil the same as extra virgin?: No. Extra virgin is a quality grade, defined by chemical limits such as free acidity of 0.80% or less and a tasting panel finding zero defects. Cold pressed describes how the oil was made: the olive paste stayed below 27 °C. A cold pressed oil can still fail the extra virgin grade if the fruit was damaged or stored too long, and a label can say extra virgin without making any temperature claim.
Is all extra virgin olive oil cold pressed?: Not by definition, although many guides say so. The International Olive Council standard requires virgin oils to be obtained under thermal conditions that do not alter the oil, but it sets no temperature figure. The 27 °C limit belongs to the optional EU label terms "first cold pressing" and "cold extraction". In practice good extra virgin is usually made cool, because excess heat costs aroma and risks a heated defect.
What does "first cold pressed" mean?: In EU law, "first cold pressing" may appear only on virgin or extra virgin oil obtained below 27 °C from a first mechanical pressing of the olive paste in a traditional hydraulic press. Most oil today comes from continuous centrifuges, where there is no second pressing. That oil may say "cold extraction" instead. Outside the EU the phrase is often used loosely, without a legal definition behind it.
Is cold pressed olive oil better?: Cool processing protects the fresh green aroma compounds, and heating the paste much above 27 °C can produce a heated or cooked off-flavour. But colder is not automatically richer in polyphenols. A 2021 study in Foods found that malaxing at 18 °C instead of 25 °C lowered total phenols in all three Italian cultivars tested. Harvest timing and speed to the mill usually matter more than a few degrees.
Can you cook with cold pressed olive oil?: Yes. The low temperature applies only at the mill and says nothing about how the oil behaves in your pan. A cold pressed extra virgin oil with low free acidity handles everyday sautéing and roasting well. Long, very hot frying will use up its polyphenols and aroma, so many cooks keep their freshest bottle for finishing dishes and salads.

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