Archive for September, 2008

30 Sep

Olive pest in Southern California

By Dan Bryant,
Olive psyllid, a serious pest of olives in Mediterranean locales, has been identified on landscape olive trees in Southern California and may pose a threat to the state’s olive industry, according to a University of California, Riverside research entomologist.
“Psyllids are some of the most fecund insects I have worked with,” he said. [...]

30 Sep

Olive Oil: A Weight-Loss Blessing

By Dr. Connie Peraglie Guttersen, R.D., Ph.D.

In Sonoma County each year, there’s a special festival called the Blessing of the Olives. That’s how central olive trees and the foods they yield are to the economy and the eating habits of the region. And olive oil is the most treasured gift of these blessed trees. In [...]

30 Sep

An olive primer

All olives are not created equal when it comes to martinis. A few guidelines:

The olive doesn’t flavor the liquor so much as the liquor flavors the olive. If you want olive flavor in the drink, make it dirty by adding olive brine or use cracked olives.
Use milder olives in gin martinis so they don’t clash [...]

29 Sep

Choosing the healthiest, tastiest Olive Oil

There are lots of good reasons to stock your pantry with olive oil. Long the most commonly used oil in the Mediterranean (as much as 25 to 40 percent of calories consumed in this region come from olive oil), extra-virgin olive oil’s healthful properties come from rich levels of monounsaturated fat, which promote “good” cholesterol, [...]

29 Sep

Added olive oil is no heart panacea

If you’ve looked closely at the bottle of olive oil in your pantry, you might have noticed a health claim touting the heart health benefits of using olive oil.
Under what is termed a “qualified health claim,” the Food and Drug Administration allows bottles of olive oil to display the following statement: “Limited and not conclusive [...]

22 Sep

Easily Retrieve Olives From Jars

North Vancouver giftware innovator Mum’s Creations has introduced a new Olive Dipper to its product line.
The metal utensil is coiled to act as a small sieve for removing olives from jars.
The dipper includes the signature design of a coiled handle topped with a glass bead.
The beaded finish comes in a wide assortment of shades and [...]

22 Sep

Use olives for beauty leave sharks in the sea

“Dr. Susan Lark, a popular Internet physician, promotes squalane – an ingredient found in shark liver oil – for its ability to help skin “maintain its moisture and elasticity.” But squalane can be obtained from a much more abundant source: olives.

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22 Sep

Bumper crop for New Zealand olive oil producers

A 20% increase in olive oil production is likely to present a marketing challenge for the country’s olive growers.
Grower organisation Olives New Zealand says groves in Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Kapiti, Nelson and Marlborough performed better than those in Canterbury and the Far North, mainly because of variable weather conditions.
Executive officer Alastair Bridge says production is [...]

20 Sep

Interview of V N Dalmia, President of the India Olive Association

Over the next four years olive oil consumption in India is expected to increase nine-fold to 42,000 tonne. Increasing awareness of health issues is the primary driver of this demand, as olive oil is seen as a healthier cooking medium.
Is olive oil becoming more acceptable in India?
Firstly, it should be noted that olive oil is [...]

20 Sep

Jordan drought may claim thousands of olive trees

Farmers say at least 30,000 olive trees on brink of turning to dead wood after springs in Joradan’s Karak dried up.
Persistent drought in the south could lead to the decimation of thousands of olive trees in the city of Karak, 120km south of Amman, according to environmentalists, who blame climate change.
“We witness in summer a [...]

20 Sep

Olive Oil Sector Could Be Shaken Up By New Labelling Rules

The European olive oil market could be set for a shake up if new labelling rules proposed by EU officials come into force. The rules would make origin labelling compulsory for virgin and extra virgin label olive oil, and could come into force as early as July 2009.

The move could provide a boost for premium [...]

20 Sep

Australian extra virgin olive oils will compete at the National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards next month.

The awards, now in their twelfth year, will be chaired by Richard Gawel, research scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute, along with more than 20 accredited judges on October 3 and 4.

“As always, it is a great privilege to assist the capable judges in their task of searching out and rewarding the best extra [...]

20 Sep

l’huile d’olive Tunisienne menacee par l’UE ?

Suite au précédent post, voici un article de Mohamed Fateh se posant la question du danger que peux représenter cette nouvelle directive, je cite:
L’idée étant d’informer précisément les consommateurs de la provenance exacte de l’huile en bouteille. Les flacons d’huiles de diverses origines, mélangées, devront donc être étiquetés en conséquence, mentionnant notamment les pays hors [...]

20 Sep

Un nouvel étiquetage possible sur les huiles d’olive vierge d’ici l’été 2009

La Commission Européenne a proposé que les étiquettes des huiles d’olive vierges et extra-vierges mentionnent obligatoirement leurs pays de production, ce mercredi 17 septembre.
Si cette proposition aboutit, elle pourrait entrer en vigueur dès le 1er juillet 2009.
Actuellement, les huiles ne sont pas obligées de porter une étiquette indiquant leurs lieux d’origine. “Mais cela s’est avéré [...]

16 Sep

Spanish Conquest Squeezes Italian Olive Oil

By Davide Berretta,
Over the past five years, Italy’s biggest olive-oil brands have fallen steadily into Spanish hands. SOS Cuétara SA’s July purchase of Bertolli, one of the world’s best-known olive-oil labels, gave the Spanish food company control of half the Italian market and made it the world’s undisputed leader in olive-oil sales.
The Spanish conquest has [...]