Another UC Davis Study Confirms Poor Quality of National Brands

The link below details a second study made by UC Davis confirming their earlier study that the most popular national brands of olive oil fail sensory testing and the IOOC standards while at the same time passing the three traditional chemical tests for determining high quality olive oil. The earlier study was criticized by some large producers as being biased so for this study they took larger samples and had two labs accredited by the IOOC to do the analysis. The results were essentially the same as the results in the earlier study.

It is interesting that a human taste panel can still detect more defects caused by oxidation than the established chemical tests. This is why new tests are being developed, primarily by Australia and Germany, to be able to better detect oxidation in olive oil. The study also details the findings using these new methods of chemical anaysis. It is worth reading the entire study.

http://www.olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/report%20041211%20final%20reduced.pdf

UC Davis Study Finds Imported ‘Extra Virgin’ Olive Oil Often Fails International Standards

Below is a link to a recent UC Davis study that found olive oils labeled extra virgin often fail international standards for extra virgin. Bariani was the only oil of the Californian oils studied that failed the IOC/USDA sensory (organoleptic – the human taste panel) standards for extra virgin. The study found that human tasters can still detect sub-par oil more effectively than chemical analysis. Currently the international standards only recommend three chemical tests. This study also includes 5 other chemical tests that are being developed by Australia and Germany to determine quality.

The study purcahsed 14 imported oils and 5 oils from California from supermarket shelves located in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. This is a very good technique because if you ask producers for samples some unscrupulous producers will send high quality samples that they do not sell to stores. A total of 69% of the imported samples failed the human taste panel. The IOC/USDA standard chemical tests only detected 31% of these. The German/Australia chemical tests detected 86% of these. Both the Rachel Ray and Paul Newman brands had two samples that failed the human taste panel.
Other common brands that failed the IOC/USDA sensory (organoleptic) test were Star, Bertolli, Filippo Berio, and Colavita.

So it is very encouraging to get official scientific results to confirm what we have known all along – oil not certified by a human taste panel is usually sub-standard. The whole report is worth reading.

UC Davis Report

USDA Publishes Olive Oil Standard

Below is an excerpt from an email sent from the California Olive Oil Council to its members. This is excellent news because it will greatly reduce the amount of mislabeled olive oil on supermarket shelves in the US.

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, standards for olive oil were published in the
USDA Federal Register. The standards will take effect October 24, 2010.

This is an historic achievement for the California olive oil industry as
well as consumers and retailers.

The petition, filed by the California Olive Oil Council in August 2005,
sought to set in place standards for grades of olive oil in the United
States, especially extra virgin. Heretofore, the absence of federal
standards allowed some unscrupulous importers to flood the US market with
mislabeled oils and misleading claims.

The standard will:

* Provide legal reference definitions for any government agency that takes
enforcement action against mislabeling

* Provide buyers in commerce with a common language of clearly defined US
grades of olive oil

* Serve notice to unscrupulous importers that the United States will no
longer be a haven for mislabeled low grades of olive oil or other oils
claiming to be olive oil

* Raise public awareness of the differences between extra virgin and other
grades of olive oil

* Inform the consumer by including taste (organoleptic) as well as chemical
testing requirements for olive oil

* Become the foundation on which an infrastructure of grading and testing
can be built

February is Olive Oil Month

Below is a press release announcing that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed February California Olive Oil Month. This underscores the growing realization of how important olive oil is for our health and how important these local businesses are for supporting their communities statewide. We hope this recognition will help more Americans experience the beauty of this California made artisan product. The vast majority of California olive oil producers are small locally owned businesses that focus on very high quality. Through buying certified extra virgin olive you help support this emerging vibrant industry that focuses on high quality and small production rather than mass produced homogeneity.

February 12, 2010, Berkeley, CA Oil Month this February, Governor Schwarzenegger urges everyone to make
California olive oil a staple in their kitchens and cuisines. He emphasizes
the rich history and important role of olive oil in California agriculture,
noting California produces 99 percent of U.S. olive oil, and has set
standards to align its grades and quality with producers around the world.

As the state¹s olive oil production continues its rapid growth, California
competes with the finest oils from around the world in both taste and cost.
With hundreds of olive oils from around the world from which to choose,
California Olive Oil Council Executive Director Patty Darragh urges shoppers
and chefs to look for the COOC seal, as the guarantee for extra virgin olive
oil produced in California. Darragh adds, ³The COOC Taste Panel, founded in
1998, has certified nearly 200 extra virgin olive oils from our recent 2009
harvest, and these oils are already available on store shelves, farmers
markets, online merchants, and foodservice channels.²

About the California Olive Oil Council and its Seal Certification

Founded in 1992, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) is a non-profit
trade and marketing association whose purpose is to promote the growing of
olives and the production of fresh, high-quality extra virgin olive oil in
California. The COOC represents 90% of olive oil production in the state
with a membership of 350 growers, producers, and supporting members from the
retail and service industries. The organization supports certified olive oil
standards and provides grower, producer and consumer education. Through its
Seal Certification program, the COOC helps everyone from home chefs to
restaurants find guaranteed extra virgin olive oils for their kitchens. For
more information, visit http://www.cooc.com.

The proclamation in its entirety follows.

###

February 2010, as ³California Olive Oil Month²

PROCLAMATION by the
Governor of the State of California

Our Golden State¹s agricultural diversity is unrivaled in the world, and
olive
oil is one of our fastest growing industries. Olive trees were first brought
over by Spanish missionaries, and their acreage in our state is expected to
grow annually by 10,000 acres in the next ten years. Moreover, our state
produces 99% of all olive oil from the United States.

California olive oil is made from a great variety of olives and production
methods and offers a range of flavors to choose from. In 2007, I signed SB
634, which aligns our state¹s olive oil grades to international standards.
This law requires bottles of olive oil to meet certain guidelines and
ensures that there is consistency in quality.

Additionally, extra virgin olive oil has many health benefits. It is high in
monounsaturated fats, a healthy type of fat, which reduces both overall and
bad cholesterol levels. Extra virgin olive oil also contains a great amount
of polyphenols, important antioxidants that promote heart health and
longevity.

Olive oil is an important part of our economy and heritage, and this month,
I encourage the people of our Golden State to make California olive oil a
staple in their kitchen and cuisine.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of
California, do hereby proclaim February 2010, as ³California Olive Oil
Month.² IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great
Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 21st day of January 2010.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California

Is what you are buying actually extra virgin olive oil?

The biggest challenge for the small artisan producer is the large scale fraud in the olive oil business in the US. Up until recently the US did not have any labeling laws in regard to extra virgin olive oil. Even now there are only two states with laws pending that are barely enforceable. Most of the olive oil sold in the US is similar to white bread in which all the nutrients are removed and the product is chemically treated to allow longevity during mass production and large scale transportation. This is not extra virgin olive oil.  Real extra virgin olive oil is necessarily a fresh product loaded with anti-oxidants. It is a product that does not lend itself to mass production. Therefore real extra virgin olive oil is expensive when compared to ‘white bread’ olive oil.

Italy exports 4 times more oil then it actually produces and yet this oil makes it into the US with the ‘From Italy’ moniker. Italy imports massive quantities of olive oil from all over the Middle East and the Mediterranean and bottles it and then ships it to the US. This is nothing new and has been going on for over 50 years. It only became an issue in the US when in the early 1990′s California started making real extra virgin olive oil and noticed it could not compete with the $10/gallon ‘extra virgin olive oil’ from Italy. Gradually the truth began to emerge. One of the best articles on this topic is the New Yorker article ‘Slippery Business.’ I recommend it highly.