I bought some Napa Valley Naturals organic extra virgin olive oil (not actually from Napa Valley -- it's from Spain). We're used to buying this brand, and in fact usually buy 9L at a time. But this box... well, the best I can describe is that it smells and tastes like it has been infused with chipotle peppers!
So, my question: What could cause this? How can I tell? Possibilities I've considered so far:
- It's an olive oil defect, but it's not a common one
- Wherever it was packed, there was contamination from chipotle-infused oil
- It's some other contaminant, and I shouldn't even be eating it
- This is legit olive oil, but a different variety or whatever
It's not bad, but it's not what I want -- I'm used to this brand being moderately good quality. I'll be calling them and inquiring about any recalls, whether there was something different about the lot, etc., but I also want information from an impartial source.
(Also interested in whether there are independent testing labs I could send a sample to without too much trouble/expense. I'm in the Boston area, for reference.)
