OLIVE OIL

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXII, Issue 8872, 12 February 1943, Page 4

OLIVE OIL

WARTIME SHORTAGE HIGHER PRICES CHARGED .Many doctors in the past prescribed a dessert spoonful daily of fresh olive oil for tlieir patients. Some continued to take the oil for long periods, and one died recently, nearly 100 years old. He attributed his long life to the beneficial effects of the oil. At first, half a gallon could be bought for 7/6; and this was six months’ supply. At the start of the war the price doubled, then it rose to 20/-. and now users say that the latest rise is a ■’'corker.” It has been bumped up because the oil is produced in some of the warring countries and the trade is undermined. “It is not, generally known,” said a medical man recently, “that it is no use hoarding olive oil when it is cheap, for in countries where it is prepared it is only considered first-grade when it is used before it is a year old. After that, it is considered to have lost half its value. Not till after the war will olive oil be plentiful again. Meanwhile. it will be sparingly used as medieinc. ’ ’