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USDA Adopts Olive Oil Standard

USDA Adopts Olive Oil Standard

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

Special thanks to board members Bruce Golino and Tom Sloan, both on the COOC standards committee. Tom spent hours crafting the text and preparing the documents. Bruce has monitored this project tirelessly from inception acting as liaison between the COOC and the USDA. Many thanks to all of our members who supported the COOC in this endeavor writing letters and commenting to the USDA during this lengthy period.

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