USA Short on Cost Effective Olive Oil Testing Facilities

For many Savantes participants the session on defects in olive oil was their first exposure to the full range of faults in olive oil. It was evident in the discussions that ensued that enterprises were committed to putting in place or enhancing in-house tasting panels and quality control systems. It was also apparent that there was a general lack of cost-effective, internationally accredited and independent testing facilities in the US.

There was a small percentage of olive oils presented for tasting which had possible defects, the suppliers of these oils will be informed of this with the suggestion that the oils be submitted to internationally accredited tasting panels for confirmation or otherwise of the extra virgin classification on the labels. In keeping with the international convention that these oils be classified by accredited panels, Savantes does not reveal the brand of the oils to participants to protect the integrity of the brand until the quality is properly and independently assessed.

Time to Test Olive Oils against Other Vegetable Oils

One must question the logic of the continuous assault on imported olive oils that is taking place in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. While the main reason promulgated for this New World campaign is to increase the quality of olive oil supplied to consumers, many see it as a thinly disguised attempt to increase the sales of locally produced extra virgin olive oils. 

With the global access to local news and commentary, the danger of this approach is that the global brand of olive oil is permanently damaged and it will take more than a few new producing countries to repair the damage. The sales of olive oil are very price sensitive as we are seeing in Greece and Italy.

It is time we as an industry encouraged the comparison of the positive attributes olive oil – refined and extra virgin – with other vegetable oils, and in doing so, boost the global olive oil brand rather than tainting it.