A medium size black olive has 50 calories and 4 grams of fat.

Kalamata Olives are called black but actually they are assorted colors of purple. Kalamata Olives are left on the tree till they ripe and than handpicked. Not all olives become ripe at the same time so the hand pick process happens 3-4 times in a period of 2 months. Handpicked as they become ripe/purple.

All uniformed black olives are dyed or oxidized.

Today Edible Olives are available in different colors, size, and treatment. Please keep in mind that:

• Olives when picked are green or purple (egg-plant) colored

• Are not edible whatever the status is - green or ripe

• Must be treated with lye and/or cured in brine or dry salt before being edible.

• They contain about 20% oil.

Olives must be processed to remove the bitter glucoside oleuropein, before they become edible, so they are usually first treated with lye and then pickled.

Greek olives are not treated with lye. The usual process is to one of the following:

• pickled in brine for 6 to 12 months (where they undergo a process of lactic fermentation), and finally packed in fresh brine.

• are just packed in dry salt,

Spanish green olives are picked before they are ripe, treated with lye, then placed in a brine and allowed to ferment.
California olives are treated to set the pigment, treated with lye and then packed immediately in brine and sterilized. They do not undergo the fermentation process, and the sterilization 'cooks' them. This lack of fermentation, and the 'cooking' when they are sterilized produces a bland, uninteresting olive.