The Language of Labels: Kachi Ghani, Expeller, Refined — a Glossary

Stand in the oil aisle of any large store and read the front labels. Kachi ghani. Cold pressed. Double filtered. Pure. Traditional. Some of these words carry legal weight and lab tests behind them; some carry nothing but font size. This glossary is the one we would want our own families to shop with.

1. 1Kachi ghani — the first, cool pressing of the seed, the method that keeps mustard oil's aroma and bite intact. On a serious label it describes a real process, and the nose can audit it.
2. 2Expeller pressed — mechanically crushed, no solvents. Honest and common; runs hotter than a slow ghani, which costs some character.
3. 3Refined — processed for neutrality: paler, quieter, stripped of pungency. Legitimate for some kitchens, but it is a different ingredient wearing the same crop's name.
4. 4Fortified (+F) — vitamins A and D added under FSSAI standards, verified by testing. Look for the logo, not just the word.
5. 5AGMARK — the government grading mark, awarded against measurable quality parameters. Worth finding on the pack.

1. 1Pure — legally every packed edible oil must be unadulterated, so the word promises nothing extra. Trust the licence and batch code instead.
2. 2Double / triple filtered — filtration counts are not a regulated scale. Cotton-filtered slowly once beats rushed filtration thrice.
3. 3Traditional — a mood, not a method. Ask: traditional how? Pressed how? Where?
4. 4No. 1 / Original — market-speak. The back label never says it, which tells you which side of the pack is under oath.

None of this requires distrust — only order of operations. Licence, batch, date, AGMARK, fortification logo, then the poetry. Vocabulary is armour; wear it into the aisle.