Olives seem innocent enough. Sure, they're a little salty, but they're raw, right?
I mean, why wouldn't they be, what would be the point of heating or processing them?

I don't know either, but the truth is, they're chemically treated with a chemical that you'd never even let touch your skin.

Sodium Hydroxide, also know as Lye or Caustic Soda, is a common chemical used to process olives.
Remember that movie 'Fight Club'? Well, even if you didn't see it, I can tell you that in that movie, there is a scene where Edward Norton is making soap using lye (another reason to stop using commercial soaps) and ends up with a permanent lye tattoo burned into the back of his hand.

Olives are processed in a variety of ways. Spanish olives are soaked in lye to soften them and then fermented for 6 to 12 months in a brine solution.
The more common Mission, or black olive, is actually a green olive processed in lye, with oxygenation and curing, which turns it to its black colour. Ferrous Gluconate is sometimes added to keep the colour from fading during storage.

Now caustic soda or lye, as some people might know, is occasionally used in the home as an agent to unblock drains. It's highly caustic (hence its name, Caustic Soda!) and has a high danger of casuing chemical burns (a la Fight Club), permanent injury or scarring, and blindness, due to its high reactivity.

This is the stuff that common, non-raw olives are soaked in. Not sprayed - soaked.

I don't know about everyone else, but this is all the reason I need to never eat non-raw olives again!

[tim]
 

I will be helping my parents harvest their olives when they are ready in a couple of months in exchange for a supply of olives and a big bottle of extra virgin, cold pressed oil.  Mum does our olives in brine only, then once they are ready they are sealed in jars with olive oil and herbs - they are to die for!  We have a friend with an olive press who does our olives in exchange for a percentage of the oil produced.  Works out well for everyone.

I definitely know these are raw!

just buy olives from RP and you will be sailing,all raw,super tasty no nasties....

HI Amy,

You're right that totally uncured olives are quite bitter and not enjoyed by the average person. The Peruvian ones we sell are just so though... .ature ripe dried olives. They are bitter and many gourmands LOVE them for that! The average person would probably be scared!

The other ones have been prepared using salt, then packed in brine and herbs/seasoning.

They are raw, and no scary substances were used in their making. They are more like normal home made olives I suppose. One day I'd like to try making them!

If anyone has a contact for an organic olive grower in Australia that would be interested in our market please pm me. We currently import from overseas but would love a more local supplier.

Cheers,
Sheryl

oh yeah,totally agree ,we are most fortunate aren't we- rp and the wonderful sheryl and piers....and all of you fabulouso guys here...