Cooking Tip

The Shelf Life of Olives

Note: New research on untreated green olives has found that products with a stated shelf life of two to three years can be unacceptable long before their sell-by date. The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture by scientists at the National Agricultural Research Foundation of Greece, examined the growing trend toward using polyethylene pouches, which are vacuum-packed, filled with brine or packed in modified atmospheres to extend shelf life.

• Extend olive storage life by floating a thin layer of vegetable oil on the surface of the brine.

See also: Pitting Ripe Olives