Frequently Asked Questions

We understand exactly the priority that you and your group place on the health and wellbeing aspects of Morocco Gold, indeed a high proportion of our returning customers are in the 50+ age group (as we are ourselves) and value the health enhancing qualities of an exceptional extra virgin olive oil. This is due to it’s high levels of polyphenols.

The high polyphenol content in Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil is dependent on three factors. First is the variety of the olive, secondly the climate and terroire of the growing region and thirdly the actual time in the growing season that the crop is harvested.

Morocco Gold is pressed from the Picholine Marocaine, the only type of olive to go into Morocco Gold. Oil from this variety is renowned for it’s high polyphenol count, oxidative stability and longevity.

Our olives are grown in a valley that is about 2,000 feet above sea level. This helps to create the additional climatic challenges that encourage polyphenol uptake within the olive tree. It is also an area with naturally occurring high phenols in the soil itself.

Thirdly, our olives are picked when the fruit is young and green. As the olives age on the tree, the colour of the olive changes to red and then black, the size of the olive increases thus producing more oil, but the polyphenol level decreases. There is a great deal of expertise within the farming community where we source our oil to ensure that the harvest is collected at the optimum time to maximise the polyphenol level.

We require Morocco Gold to have a polyphenol level greater than 250mg/kg. This is the European Union legal requirement for a producer to make the appropriate health claims for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Our current harvest has a polyphenol content of 362mg/kg. The total level of polyphenols is measured as Tyrosol.

Other key specification parameters are:

Acidity: always < or = 0.5% (we typically achieve acidity levels even lower than this)

We require our Morocco Gold to have a polyphenol level greater than 250mg/kg. This is the European Union legal requirement for a producer to make the appropriate health claims for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

The high polyphenol content of Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil is dependent on three factors. First is the variety of the olive, secondly the climate and terroire of the growing region and thirdly the actual time in the growing season that the crop is harvested.

Morocco Gold is pressed from the Picholine Marocaine, the only type of olive to go into Morocco Gold. Oil from this variety is renowned for it’s high polyphenol count, oxidative stability and longevity.

Our olives are grown in a valley that is about 2,000 feet above sea level. This helps to create the additional climatic challenges that encourage polyphenol uptake within the olive tree. It is also an area with naturally occurring high phenols in the soil itself.

Thirdly, our olives are picked when the fruit is young and green. As the olives age on the tree, the colour of the olive changes to red and then black, the size of the olive increases thus producing more oil, but the polyphenol level decreases. There is a great deal of expertise within the farming community where we source our oil to ensure that the harvest is collected at the optimum time to maximise the polyphenol level.

We now take 2 spoon-fulls daily as part of our own healthy diet. It can of course also be used for traditional bread dipping, you can also cook with it – it has a wonderful ability to draw out the flavour of (for example) roasted vegetables. You can also pour directly over cooked food (great over fish dishes), also you can add a dash into soups. There are some recipe suggestions on the ‘Lifestyle’ – ‘Recipes’ section of our website that you may want to try.

A favourite of ours is to drizzle over vanilla ice-cream!

The Morocco Gold olive growing area is 180 kms and about 4 hours drive north east from Marrakesh. It is situated in a raised valley in the foothills of the magnificent Atlas mountains in the Azilal Province which is part of the Beni Mellal region. The area rarely sees many tourists or ‘outsiders’.

Over time, layer upon layer of decomposed organic matter has contributed massively to the rich content of phenols in the local soil. This in turn contributes to the very high levels polyphenols found in olives now grown in the region, including in Morocco Gold Extra Virgin olive oil.

This raised valley is between two 1400m Atlas ranges with altitude varying between 700m and 900m along its 40kms. This creates its own micro-climate with temperatures generally 2c below the coastal plain in the daytime and 5c at night-time. These differences, combined with the naturally occurring nutrients in the soil create uniquely high-quality olive growing conditions for the Picholine Marocaine, the only type of olive used in Morocco Gold.

Thank you for getting in touch. As a valued customer we welcome your questions.

Regarding the level of acidity, this is a measure that does vary from year to year depending on weather conditions and timing of harvest.

However, we now have consistent analysis from recent years that show acidity well below the levels defined for Extra Virgin olive oil of 0.8%. Typically the acidity of Morocco Gold has been between 0.23% and 0.4%.

As a matter of policy, we wanted to include as much information about our oil on our labelling, to provide the reassurance of extra virgin quality. We also check with our local standards agency here in the UK to ensure that this information is in strict compliance with regulatory requirements.

We know that the acidity level is of real interest to health-conscious extra virgin olive oil users such as yourself.

Regarding how much of our oil to take per day, I personally take around 30ml (1.01floz) daily.

This is the equivalent of around 2 tablespoons (1 tablespoon = 0.52fl oz).

Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil bottle size is 500ml (16.9 fl.Oz.USA). There are around 35 tablespoons in each bottle (1 tbs. = 14.3ml).

Our latest harvest polyphenol content is 644 mg / kg.

So there are around 18.4 mg / kg in each tablespoon (644 / 35)

2-3 tablespoon will therefore deliver between 36.8 and 55.2 mg/kg per day.

European Food Safety Authority Recommendation

The European Food Safety Authority regulation states that extra virgin olive oil with a polyphenol level of 250mg / kg and above can make health claims. However it is also very specific about which polyphenols this applies to. It specifically states that this must include hydroxytyrosol and its derivites, (oleuropein and tyrosol). So long as these polyphenols are present, the beneficial effects can be obtained with a daily intake of around 20ml of olive oil.

At this level of polyphenol, 1 tablespoon will have around 7.1 mg/kg (250 / 35) So to get the health benefits you would need to take around 3 tablespoons per day.

Because our concentration of polyphenol is much higher than the standard, you will get the associated health benefits with around 2 tablespoons per day.

I personally have a ‘shot’ of around 2-3 tablespoons per day.

I do hope this has been helpful – do please reach out if you need any further clarification.

Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil bottle size is 500ml (17 fl.Oz.USA). There are around 35 tablespoons in each bottle (1 tbs. = 14.3ml).

Our latest harvest polyphenol content is 644 mg / kg.

So there are around 18.4 mg / kg in each tablespoon (644 / 35)

2-3 tablespoon will therefore deliver between 36.8 and 55.2 mg/kg per day

At 2 tablespoons per day a bottle should last around 17-18 days

European Food Safety Authority Recommendation

The European Food Safety Authority regulation states that extra virgin olive oil with a polyphenol level of 250mg / kg and above can make health claims. However it is also very specific about which polyphenols this applies to. It specifically states that this must include hydroxytyrosol and its derivites, (oleuropein and tyrosol). So long as these polyphenols are present, the beneficial effects can be obtained with a daily intake of around 20ml of olive oil.

At this level of polyphenol, 1 tablespoon will have around 7.1 mg/kg (250 / 35) So to get the health benefits you would need to take around 3 tablespoons per day.

Because our concentration of polyphenol is much higher than the standard, you will get the associated health benefits with around 2 tablespoons per day.

I personally have a ‘shot’ of around 2-3 tablespoons per day.

I do hope this has been helpful – do please reach out if you need any further clarification.

Regarding the ‘pepperiness’ of olive oils with high polyphenol content – you are quite right that in general, the higher the polyphenol content, the more ‘peppery’ the oil is. It does however depend on a number of factors. This includes the variety of the olive, secondly the climate and terroire of the growing region and thirdly the actual time in the growing season that the crop is harvested.

Morocco Gold is pressed from the Picholine Marocaine, the only type of olive to go into Morocco Gold. Oil from this variety is renowned in Morocco for it’s high polyphenol count, oxidative stability and longevity.

Our olives are grown in a valley that is about 2,000 feet above sea level that does have the additional climatic challenges that encourage polyphenol generation. It is also an area with naturally occurring high phenols in the soil itself, so all in all it is a pretty unique source.

Thirdly, our olives are picked when the fruit is young and green. As the olives age on the tree, the colour of the olive changes to red and then black, the size of the olive increases thus producing more oil, but the polyphenol level decreases. There is a great deal of expertise within the farming community where we source our oil to ensure that the harvest is collected at the optimum time to maximise the polyphenol level and achieve the organoleptic (taste) characteristics we re looking for.

Our aim at Morocco Gold is to combines the taste characteristics of a premium extra virgin olive oil, young and fruity, with the health enhancing polyphenols to create an extra virgin olive oil that is well balanced and not too ‘aggressive’ when taken on its own. At the end of the day, it is all a matter of taste, as well as enjoying the health benefits.

For our 2021/22 harvest we are pleased to say the level of polyphenols is the highest we have yet seen. The breakdown is:

• 3,4 DHPEA-EDA                                           85 mg/kg
• Hydroxytyrosol   5 mg/kg
• Lignanes 26 mg/kg
• Ligstroside aglycone (p, HPEA-EA) 20 mg/kg
• Oleuropein aglycone (3,4 DHPEA-EA) 71 mg/kg
• p, HPEA-EDA 65 mg/kg
• Tyrosol                         372 mg/kg

• TOTAL 644mg/kg

It is the polyphenol Oleocanthal that is responsible for the “peppery / stinging” sensation at the back of your throat when you taste the oil. In fact, this is how the molecule got its name, ’oleo’ meaning oil and ‘canth’ which is Greek for stinging or prickly. So this represents around 1/10^th of the polyphenols in Morocco Gold.

That said, the following illustrates the range of chronic conditions where research into these polyphenols oil has demonstrated positive effects.

We know that many of our customers do value Morocco Gold for its health enhancing qualities. In fact the European Food Safety Authority has approved health claims for extra virgin olive oils with polyphenol content of more than 250mg / kg. As you will see, Morocco Gold contains polyphenols well above this level.

Our aim has always been to create a high-quality extra virgin olive oil that balances great taste with health enhancing polyphenols. We also wanted to ensure the pepperiness is not too ‘aggressive’ when taken. (In our own research, we have come across olive oils that have the characteristics of paint stripper when taken – really quite unpleasant to taste).

If you would like some further detail about the polyphenols in Morocco Gold, we will be pleased to forward a PDF copy of our book – Morocco Gold: Food Of The Gods.

What we set out to do at Morocco Gold is to create an extra virgin olive oil that combines the taste characteristics of a premium extra virgin olive oil, young and fruity, with the health enhancing polyphenols to create an extra virgin olive oil that is well balanced and not too ‘aggressive’ (peppery / bitter) when taken on its own.

The bitterness that you taste is in fact an indication of the quality of the oil as it is caused by the presence of the polyphenols in our oil. The oil from our current harvest contained the highest level of polyphenols to date at 644 mg/kg.

The high polyphenol content of Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil is dependent on three factors. First is the variety of the olive, secondly the climate and terroire of the growing region and thirdly the actual time in the growing season that the crop is harvested.

Morocco Gold is pressed from the Picholine Marocaine, the only type of olive to go into Morocco Gold. Oil from this variety is renowned for it’s high polyphenol count, oxidative stability and longevity.

That all said however, at the end of the day it is all a matter of taste.

Regarding organic status, Morocco Gold has commenced the process to become organic certified. However, there is a ‘conversion period’ of up to 3 years during which time the certifying authority, for example the Soil Association, will satisfy themselves that there are no chemical fertilizers etc. present in the ground, no pesticides etc. This process applies, even if it were to virgin Amazon rain forest. There is then the Moroccan administrative process to grant organic certification – all in all a lengthy procedure.

So whilst Morocco Gold is produced using only natural methods with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, we cannot at this stage label our oil as ‘organic’

This in no way however detracts from the natural characteristics of the oil itself, the way in which our olives are hand-picked, cold pressed within 24 hours at low temperature to produce a very high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

There are a number of developments currently underway at Morocco Gold. The first of these is to become organic certified. This is fairly involved process involving a lengthy ‘conversion period,’ then the Moroccan administrative process to grant organic certification.

Once this process is established, we will be delighted to look at kosher certification. We would welcome making Morocco Gold as widely available to health-conscious lovers of olive oil as possible.

We take great care to ensure the longevity of our extra virgin olive oil, including the selection, early harvesting of our olives, carefully controlled handling and pressing of our olives, and the specialist nature of our glass bottle. This has been designed with a darker tone of green and thicker glass wall to maximise protection from UV rays that can interact with and alter foodstuffs.

Our oil is also pressed from the Picholine Maroccaine which is noted for its higher than average polyphenol content and its low acidity.

All these factors mean that our extra virgin olive oil, if stored in cool conditions, will nhave an extended shelf life of up to 4 years.