With food inflation still squeezing household budgets, experts are warning that millions of Brits are unknowingly wasting money by storing everyday staples incorrectly. This includes olive oil, which has quietly become one of the UK’s most expensive pantry items.
Food and drink inflation reached 4.5% this autumn, and prices have risen by around 37% in the last five years. But few products have risen as sharply as olive oil. A standard 500ml bottle has skyrocketed by 110% since 2021, rising from £3.54 to £7.45, while some premium varieties now push £18 per litre.
Yet according to home cooks and storage specialists, many are accidentally shortening the life of their oil with one simple but widespread mistake – keeping it on the kitchen counter or next to the hob.
This week, a discussion in the Facebook preservation group Canning Rebels, which has more than 473,000 members, prompted users to sound the alarm.
One commenter warned that “heating the oil in any way will cause the oil to go rancid faster as it speeds up the breakdown of the bonds.” Others chimed in with the same advice: “Store your oils in a cool, dark place.”
The debate moved to Reddit, where users expressed surprise at how many people leave olive oil in full view of sunlight or right beside the cooker.
One user wrote: “Sunlight and heat both degrade olive oil and exposure to them will make it spoil faster, causing it to lose flavour and take on a more bitter tone, and eventually become rancid.”
According to Rowland King, storage expert and director at Quality Bottles, these concerns are absolutely justified and the mistake is “far more widespread than people realise.”
Mr King said: “Storing olive oil next to the stove or in direct sunlight is one of the quickest ways to ruin it.”
“Olive oil is extremely sensitive to heat and light. Both speed up oxidation, which breaks down the oil’s natural antioxidants and causes it to lose flavour, aroma, and nutritional quality. Eventually, it becomes rancid.”
With prices now at record highs, King says poor storage habits mean households are effectively “throwing money away.”
“Even small increases in temperature, like heat radiating from your oven or hob, can shorten its shelf life dramatically.”
He recommends a simple solution: keep olive oil in a cool, dark cupboard, well away from any heat source. For those who cook often, Mr King suggests decanting a small amount into a dark bottle for everyday use, while storing the main supply properly.
“It keeps the oil fresher for longer and helps avoid unnecessary waste,” he said, a small change that may increasingly matter in Britain’s rising-cost kitchen.
Dining and Cooking