Those terms mean nothing in most of today's mass-produced olive oils. They may have more meianng if you can find olive oil extracted in more traditional manners, but those usually come from artisan producers and in very small batches. Virgin and cold-pressed are interchangeable terms. They both mean that only mechanical methods were used to extract the oil (as opposed to heat or chemical methods, both of which alter the natural properties of the oil). First pressing refers to when the old method of using a mechanical screw press was common. Olives went through the press at relatively low pressures the first time through, meianng the most pure product came out (thus first pressing ). Then the resulting pulp was sent through a higher pressure press to extract more oil. The higher pressure results in heat, which degrades the flavor of the oil. Often, the pulp was heated before the second pressing to be able to extract more oil.Centrifuges are now used to extract oil by most commercial producers. Since the oil is extracted by centrifugal force until nothing else comes out, there is no second pressing. It's my understanding that since the olives are not subjected to as much pressure using this method, they are not subjected to as much heat either, preserving the original qualities and flavor of the oil.Back to my original statement: first cold pressed and cold pressed are mostly marketing terms carrying over from the early days of olive oil extraction methods. By today's standards, most any non-refined olive oil qualifies as first cold pressed .There are certainly quality differences between oils, but if you're comparing labels of extra virgin olive oils, these extra words on the label are no longer a good indicator of these differences.

by Tihon 11:03:53 PM 2012.12.08