Why being a seal certified EVOO matters . . .
There has been a great deal of discussion in the last two days about the "60 Minutes" show on fraudulent olive oil and the Agromafia. Some of the big name Italian olive oil companies are involved, with possibly 80% of the Italian olive oil being exported to the U.S. being either mislabeled or not 100% olive oil -- let alone EVOO. U.C. Davis published their findings on tests that they ran in April of 2011 and named the names of companies whose oils were tested. You can read that report here.
So what is a consumer to do? Well, if you're a U.S. consumer, buy local and look for the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) certification seal. What does that mean? International, as well as U.S. standards, require that olive oil undergo a chemical analysis to meet minimum standards in order to be classified "extra virgin." If those standards are met, that olive oil must be submitted to a tasting panel for sensory evaluation. The panel consists of certified, expert tasters who blind taste the oil to determine whether it is free of defects. A defect can include issues with milling, storage or quality of the fruit, and the olives must be milled within 24 hours of picking.
Only those olive oils which have passed both tests can legitimately call themselves certified extra virgin olive oils. Click here to view a current list of California EVOOs that are certified for the 2015/2016 harvest. There are different seal programs, as well. To learn what the different seals mean, follow this link.
In an entirely separate category are flavored olive oils. For instance, our lemon olive oil is made with certified extra virgin olive oil, but once you put anything into olive oil to flavor it -- even if it is natural -- it is no longer categorized as "extra virgin." Consequently, our flavored oils are labeled "Estate Produced."
Of course, then, we have an entirely different category of producer than mentioned in any of the scenarios above, someone who may have quality olive oil, and if tested, it might just be seal certified, but they believe their oil is good and they don't think they need that certification, so they just label their oil "extra virgin olive oil." If they do not have their oil undergo the seal certification process, technically, it should not be labeled as "extra virgin olive oil."
Why does it matter? It matters because if every olive oil producer can just label their product however they want, what happened in Italy can happen everywhere. If there is no policing of the industry, anyone can put canola oil colored with chlorophyll in a bottle and call it olive oil. What if a consumer purchased that product, thinking it was olive oil and they happened to be allergic to canola oil? I can't have soybeans. What if I purchased a bottle, thinking it was olive oil and it had soybean oil? How are these products being handled? Are workers wearing gloves and masks? Does a consumer want to pay the price a seal-certified extra virgin olive oil commands and receive a lesser quality product? If producers aren't undergoing the stringent seal certification program, even if it happened to be very good olive oil, would it be considered fraudulent because it is labeled "extra virgin"? Does your producer possess a Health Department license? Wouldn't that be a good thing to know?
We'll let you make those last calls, but until more labeling laws are passed and the enforcement is stepped up by the USDA and all of the olive oil producers' organizations, and even grocers, it is possible you could purchase a bottle of olive oil labeled "extra virgin" that isn't.
So how can you tell? Even if you are purchasing a local oil and it is important to you that it is truly extra virgin, look for one of the seals listed in the chart contained in this article to guarantee that that producer has had a chemical and sensory analysis of the olive oil and that it has passed both tests. Producers of top quality EVOO are proud to display the seal indicating that their oil is the best of the best and that they care enough to go the extra yard and to the extra effort and cost to demonstrate the quality of their oil to the consumer.
Our olive oil is certified extra virgin by the California Olive Oil Council. We are proud to announce that each year we receive our certification and we are proud of every award our oil has won. Look for the seal on our bottles. It is there on our extra virgin olive oil. You won't be seeing that seal on our flavored oils for the reason stated above, but we can tell you that that oil started as EVOO.
We are proud to make the grade and we are happy to announce that to our customers. Look for the seal. It matters.
So what is a consumer to do? Well, if you're a U.S. consumer, buy local and look for the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) certification seal. What does that mean? International, as well as U.S. standards, require that olive oil undergo a chemical analysis to meet minimum standards in order to be classified "extra virgin." If those standards are met, that olive oil must be submitted to a tasting panel for sensory evaluation. The panel consists of certified, expert tasters who blind taste the oil to determine whether it is free of defects. A defect can include issues with milling, storage or quality of the fruit, and the olives must be milled within 24 hours of picking.
Only those olive oils which have passed both tests can legitimately call themselves certified extra virgin olive oils. Click here to view a current list of California EVOOs that are certified for the 2015/2016 harvest. There are different seal programs, as well. To learn what the different seals mean, follow this link.
In an entirely separate category are flavored olive oils. For instance, our lemon olive oil is made with certified extra virgin olive oil, but once you put anything into olive oil to flavor it -- even if it is natural -- it is no longer categorized as "extra virgin." Consequently, our flavored oils are labeled "Estate Produced."
Of course, then, we have an entirely different category of producer than mentioned in any of the scenarios above, someone who may have quality olive oil, and if tested, it might just be seal certified, but they believe their oil is good and they don't think they need that certification, so they just label their oil "extra virgin olive oil." If they do not have their oil undergo the seal certification process, technically, it should not be labeled as "extra virgin olive oil."
Why does it matter? It matters because if every olive oil producer can just label their product however they want, what happened in Italy can happen everywhere. If there is no policing of the industry, anyone can put canola oil colored with chlorophyll in a bottle and call it olive oil. What if a consumer purchased that product, thinking it was olive oil and they happened to be allergic to canola oil? I can't have soybeans. What if I purchased a bottle, thinking it was olive oil and it had soybean oil? How are these products being handled? Are workers wearing gloves and masks? Does a consumer want to pay the price a seal-certified extra virgin olive oil commands and receive a lesser quality product? If producers aren't undergoing the stringent seal certification program, even if it happened to be very good olive oil, would it be considered fraudulent because it is labeled "extra virgin"? Does your producer possess a Health Department license? Wouldn't that be a good thing to know?
We'll let you make those last calls, but until more labeling laws are passed and the enforcement is stepped up by the USDA and all of the olive oil producers' organizations, and even grocers, it is possible you could purchase a bottle of olive oil labeled "extra virgin" that isn't.
So how can you tell? Even if you are purchasing a local oil and it is important to you that it is truly extra virgin, look for one of the seals listed in the chart contained in this article to guarantee that that producer has had a chemical and sensory analysis of the olive oil and that it has passed both tests. Producers of top quality EVOO are proud to display the seal indicating that their oil is the best of the best and that they care enough to go the extra yard and to the extra effort and cost to demonstrate the quality of their oil to the consumer.
Our olive oil is certified extra virgin by the California Olive Oil Council. We are proud to announce that each year we receive our certification and we are proud of every award our oil has won. Look for the seal on our bottles. It is there on our extra virgin olive oil. You won't be seeing that seal on our flavored oils for the reason stated above, but we can tell you that that oil started as EVOO.
We are proud to make the grade and we are happy to announce that to our customers. Look for the seal. It matters.
Comments
Post a Comment