# olives

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 1, 2000, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226 "2000-10-01T06:40:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alibey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@alibey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alibey)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/1 "2000-10-01T06:40:47Z")

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can anyone tell me why green olives are sold in glass jars and black olives are sold in cans?

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**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/2 "2000-10-01T07:07:23Z")

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Here is what my mom says…the liquid that black olives are packed in is icky and black and wouldn’t look very good in a glass jar.

I’d also add that green olives are seen as upscale food and therefor packed in a high class glass jar, whereas us workaday folks eat black olives from the can.

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**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/3 "2000-10-01T07:13:54Z")

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Makes sense to me, Seven. I mean after all, it sort of ruins the whole martini to finish it off with pizza toppings rather than a fine fruit which likely comes in 17,000 species and another 15,422,000 varieties and a rich, complex taste…

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/4 "2000-10-01T09:47:31Z")

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For what it’s worth, almost all black olives in the world are sold in the U.S.

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**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/5 "2000-10-01T13:37:57Z")

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I’ve found black olives in jars here in the UK. However, **even sven** is right, the liquid doesn’t look very appealing – the only good thing is that the container is resealable.

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives/35226/6 "2000-10-01T14:18:26Z")

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**AWB** responded to the same question in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=3337) thread with:

> [@](#):
>
> Non-black olives are in a pickle juice, so they’re not going anywhere and can be jarred.