Council aims for national olive oil standards

BERKELEY, Calif.-Citing outdated U.S. Department of Agriculture definitions for olive oil, the California Olive Oil Council submitted a petition to USDA's standards division June 25 calling for new trade standards for olive oil grades.

"The impetus (for the petition) was the vacuum in which the industry operates. The existing standards are so far off base, they don't address any of the trade uses," said Bruce Golino, president of the COOC. Golino, who was appointed as COOC president in March, operates Santa Cruz Olive Tree Nursery and bottles olive oil under the brand Le Colline of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Calif.

Current USDA standards for olive oil grades date back to 1948. The voluntary grades include U.S. Fancy, U.S. Choice, U.S. Standard and U.S. Substandard. The COOC is proposing USDA revise standards in alignment with those used by the Madrid, Spain-based International Olive Oil Council, a United Nations-chartered organization.

"USDA has no descriptors for virgin or extra virgin. The marketplace calls a grade one things, and USDA calls it something different," said Golino. "We are trying to bring USDA descriptors in line with what the marketplace uses.

The proposed standards include 10 grades of olive oil, including extra virgin and virgin, under two primary categories: Olive Oil and Olive Pomace Oil. These standards would define olive oil as that which is obtained solely from fruit of the olive tree, and virgin olive oil as being obtained solely by mechanical or physical means under thermal conditions that do not lead to alterations in the oil. Olive Pomace Oil is defined as oil obtained by treating olive pomace with solvents.

"Because there are good worldwide standards and we see California as an exporter of olive oil in the near future, we want to label products to a standard enforced around the world," said Golino.

The North American Olive Oil Association, Neptune. N.J., submitted a similar petition to the Food and Drug Administration 10 years ago without any results, noted President Bob Bauer.

"An update of the standard is necessary because the current one is so out of touch with reality," he said. "We adhere to the IOOC worldwide standard anyway, so we would support it."

Golino said California is becoming a more viable player, which should pique USDA interest in revising the olive oil standards. The COOC's certification program for extra virgin olive oil produced in the state this year increased to 140 members from 84 members in the 2002-2003 season, Golino noted.

"California has re-emerged and is a growing part of the marketplace," he said.

He said the standards will benefit importers, retailers and consumers because olive oil would be labeled in a standard and accurate fashion.

"It would dispel a lot of confusion in the marketplace," Golino added.

"As a retailer, if you go to buy olive oil to sell and think you are buying extra virgin, you want to be sure it is extra virgin," he said.

In the coming months, USDA will publish a notice in the Federal Register, available online at www.ams.usda.gov/fv/ppb.html, to notify the industry of its receipt of the standards petition.

Upon receiving an initial round of comments, the USDA will draft revisions to the current standards for additional industry comment.

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