On Swiss shelves, «cold-pressed» appears on almost every bottle of olive oil, often in large type on the front, sometimes next to «first cold pressing» or «first quality». The phrase reads like a quality guarantee, and that is exactly how it is meant: cold, therefore gentle, therefore better.

In law, however, these are not one claim but several — with different temperature limits, and one of them is not defined for olive oil at all. This article sets out what the rules actually require, why the best-known phrasing describes a process hardly anyone still uses, why «colder» does not automatically mean «more polyphenols», and which statements on a bottle are genuinely verifiable.

The two protected claims for olive oil

What may appear on an olive oil sold in Switzerland is governed by the Federal Department of Home Affairs ordinance on foodstuffs of plant origin, mushrooms and table salt (VLpH / ODAlOV, SR 817.022.17), in the version in force since 1 January 2026. It is issued in German, French and Italian; the renderings below are our translations. Two provisions apply specifically to olive oil, both in Article 10 paragraph 3:

  • «First cold pressing» is permitted only for extra virgin and virgin olive oil obtained by the first mechanical pressing of the olive paste at no more than 27 °C in a traditional extraction system with a hydraulic press.
  • «Cold extraction» is permitted only for extra virgin and virgin olive oil obtained by percolation or centrifugation of the olive paste at no more than 27 °C.

Three things matter here. First, the temperature: 27 °C in both cases. Second, the grade: only the two virgin grades may carry these claims, never a refined olive oil or an olive-pomace oil. Third, the process — and this is where the two claims part company. «First cold pressing» requires a press. «Cold extraction» requires percolation or centrifugation.

The same rule applies across the EU, where practically all of the oil on Swiss shelves comes from. It sits in Article 10, «Optional reserved terms», of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 on the marketing standards for olive oil, which states that both indications may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils «obtained at a temperature below 27 °C». The wording differs slightly from the German text of the Swiss ordinance, which says «at most 27 °C»; the French text of the same Swiss ordinance reads «below 27 °C», like the EU version.

«Cold-pressed» on its own is not defined for olive oil

This is where the catch lies. The word «cold-pressed» by itself is neither of the two olive-specific claims, and it does not appear in the olive oil section of the ordinance (Articles 9 to 12). It is defined somewhere else: in Article 6 paragraph 5, in the section on edible oils and fats.

There, a vegetable edible oil counts as «cold-pressed», «cold-beaten», «virgin», «extra virgin», «natural» or «unrefined» if it was obtained by pressing or centrifugation from raw materials that were not heated beforehand, if the temperature during pressing did not exceed 50 °C, and if it was not refined.

50 °C. That is 23 degrees above the limit that applies to the two protected olive oil claims. A shopper who reads «cold-pressed» and thinks of 27 °C has the stricter number in mind and a definition in front of them that, in the very same ordinance, makes do with 50.

Whether that 50-degree definition applies to olive oil at all is left open by the wording. Article 10 paragraph 2 declares applicable to olive oil and olive-pomace oil only «the requirements under Article 6 paragraph 3 and under Annex 2» — Article 6 paragraph 5 is not named there, and the labelling of olive oil is governed separately by Article 12. Read literally, that means olive oil has its own regime at 27 °C, and the bare word «cold-pressed» is not among the claims provided for it. We found no official interpretation confirming that reading; what we set out here is the text of the ordinance, not legal advice.

One side effect of the same provision is certain in any case: «extra virgin» also appears in that general list. A sunflower oil may therefore call itself «extra virgin» under the 50-degree rule. For olive oil, by contrast, «extra virgin olive oil» is a genuine grade with chemical and sensory limits — what sits behind it is set out in What is extra virgin olive oil?.

Why «first cold pressing» is a historical term

The claim presupposes, in the words of the rule, a traditional extraction system with a hydraulic press. That system has largely disappeared in practice. The American Oil Chemists' Society sums up the state of play like this: three extraction systems are in use today — pressure, percolation and centrifugation — «although centrifugation is by far the most common in olive mills all over the world». Modern mills work by centrifugation because it delivers high-quality oils at lower production cost.

A plain consequence follows: oil from a modern mill is technically «cold extraction», not «first cold pressing». The better-known and commercially more attractive phrase describes the rarer process.

On the word «first», a Swiss specialist body is blunter still. The sensory unit of the ZHAW in Wädenswil, which runs the Swiss Olive Oil Panel, writes in its labelling guide that the indication «first cold pressing», as one sometimes reads, «is unnecessary nowadays, since the machinery used is generally so effective that a second pressing or extraction is not possible or necessary».

The law points the same way. Article 10 paragraph 5 of the ordinance allows only four products to be supplied to consumers: extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, olive oil composed of refined and virgin olive oils, and olive-pomace oil. What is recovered from the residue is olive-pomace oil, must be named as such, and may not carry the cold-pressing claims at all. So «first» distinguishes the oil from nothing that would stand beside it in the same category.

Colder is not automatically better

The temperature limit covers the extraction step, and it is a sensible limit: heat drives off the volatile aroma compounds and speeds up oxidation. But it does not follow that less heat always means more of the good things.

What decides the outcome is not the pressing but the malaxation — the slow stirring of the olive paste before separation. The AOCS gives an upper limit of 30 °C for the paste, to avoid a change in colour, a rise in acidity and the degradation of volatile compounds, and describes the favourable range for phenol-rich oils as 25–27 °C with a total duration of under 60 minutes.

How far from linear this is was shown by a trial on three Italian cultivars published in the journal Foods in 2021. Where malaxation was kept cold throughout, the phenol content fell rather than rose: the authors report decreases of 18.3 per cent for Moraiolo and 21.4 per cent for Peranzana against the comparison run, because the phenols pass into the oil phase more readily at around 25 °C than at a lower temperature. «Cold» and «rich in polyphenols» are two different things.

Then there is the design of the mill: with a three-phase decanter, according to the Institute of Food Technologists' magazine, part of the polyphenols is lost because more water is involved; the two-phase decanter avoids that washing-out. Which design was used, and how long the paste was malaxed, appears on no label. More on these compounds is in Olive oil polyphenols.

What a measured content looks like is shown by EU law itself: Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 permits the health claim on olive oil polyphenols only for oil containing at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g of olive oil. That is a threshold a laboratory checks. «First cold pressing» measures nothing; it describes a machine and a temperature.

Who checks the 27 degrees?

An obvious question, and the answer explains a lot. There is no duty to record the extraction temperature continuously. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105 requires in Article 5 that operators, from the mill up to the bottling stage, keep entry and withdrawal registers for each category of olive oil they hold. And it requires that, at the request of the authority, the operator supply documentation on compliance with the requirements of Article 10 of Regulation 2022/2104 — based on «factual elements or scientifically established facts», on «results of analyses or automatic recordings taken on representative samples», or on administrative or accounting information.

That is proof after the event and only on request, not a continuous measuring obligation. In Switzerland the general duty of self-monitoring under food law applies in addition. How well labels hold up in practice is shown by a multi-canton campaign: the 2021 annual report of the Cantonal Laboratory of Zurich records, for 96 oils examined, that the declarations were clearly in need of improvement, because «around half of the samples showed deficient labelling». Eleven oils corresponded sensorially only to the lower grade «vergine».

The claims that do tell you something

Rather than looking for «cold-pressed», it pays to look at the statements the ordinance ties to verifiable conditions in Article 12:

  • Harvest year. Extra virgin and virgin olive oil may be labelled with one — but only where 100 per cent of the contents of the pack come from that harvest. It is the hardest freshness claim available, and far more informative than any temperature formula.
  • Origin of the olives. The country the olives came from must always be stated where it differs from the country in which the oil was produced. «Blend of olive oils from various countries» is not a filler phrase but the prescribed designation for exactly that case.
  • Taste claims. Organoleptic characteristics relating to taste or smell may be mentioned only for the two virgin grades, and the reserved vocabulary only where it rests on the results of an organoleptic assessment — that is, on a panel, not on marketing copy.
  • Acidity. A figure may be given only if the peroxide value, the wax content and the ultraviolet absorption are shown as well, in the same type size and in the same field of vision. A lone acidity figure without those three companion values is a warning sign.

Then there is the mandatory line for the top grade: extra virgin olive oil must clearly carry the statement that it is a superior category olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means. That line appears on every correctly labelled bottle — it is compulsory, and therefore not a point of difference between two oils.

What a high price in Switzerland actually buys, we broke down in Premium olive oil in Switzerland. And the test that in the end tells you more than any label takes two minutes in your own kitchen: how to tell if olive oil is rancid.

Frequently asked questions

Is «cold-pressed» the same as «first cold pressing» for olive oil?

No. «First cold pressing» and «cold extraction» are the two olive-specific claims in the Swiss ordinance (Art. 10 para. 3) and are tied to 27 °C. The bare word «cold-pressed» does not appear in the olive oil section at all; it is defined in the general provision for vegetable edible oils (Art. 6 para. 5), where the limit is 50 °C.

At what temperature does olive oil count as cold-extracted?

The German text of the Swiss ordinance sets «at most 27 °C» for both protected claims, applied to the pressing or to the percolation or centrifugation of the olive paste. Article 10 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 words it as «below 27 °C», as does the French text of the Swiss ordinance.

Is there such a thing as a second pressing?

Not in the consumer range. The ZHAW therefore calls the claim «first cold pressing» unnecessary nowadays: the machinery works so effectively that a second pressing is not possible or necessary. Oil recovered from the residue is olive-pomace oil, must be named as such, and may not carry the cold-pressing claims.

Does a cold-extracted oil contain more polyphenols?

Not necessarily. In a trial on three Italian cultivars, keeping the malaxation temperature low throughout reduced the hydrophilic phenol content by 18.3 and 21.4 per cent, because the phenols pass into the oil phase more readily at around 25 °C. Harvest timing, malaxation time and water use decide the content — and none of those appears on the label.

Who verifies that 27 °C was respected?

Continuous temperature recording is not prescribed. Under Article 5 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105, operators keep entry and withdrawal registers and, at the authority's request, supply documentation on the optional indications — based on established facts, results of analyses or accounting information. It is proof after the event.

How can I spot a fresh oil on the label?

By the harvest year. It may be stated only where the entire contents of the pack come from that harvest. Where it is missing, you are left with the best-before date, which the bottler sets itself and which says nothing about the age of the olives.

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