Importers Petition FDA for an Olive Oil Standard of Identity
America’s olive oil importers have asked the Food and Drug Administration for a national olive oil standard of identity, a legal definition of each grade and of the tests used to prove it. The North American Olive Oil Association first asked for this in 1990. Here is what the new petition asks for, why it lands now, and why importers and California growers want very different things from Washington.
What happened
The North American Olive Oil Association, whose members are the companies that import olive oil into the United States, filed a citizen petition with the FDA dated July 9. It asks for an “enhanced standard of identity for olive oil and olive-pomace oil products”: a mandatory federal rule defining extra virgin, virgin, olive oil and pomace oil, and naming the analytical methods that decide which is which. The association announced the filing in mid-July, and Olive Oil Times reported it this weekend.
The association says it has collected hundreds of samples of every grade from U.S. and Canadian shelves each year since its first petition in 1990, sending them to accredited labs. Oils that fail are reported to the importer or packer and to state and federal agencies. Without a detailed national standard, it says, taking legal action is much harder.
Why now
The U.S. has been building olive oil rules piece by piece. Connecticut adopted a detailed standard for olive oil and olive-pomace oil in 2008, California followed, and New York and Oregon adopted similar rules the next year. The USDA revised its grade standards in 2010, but they are voluntary. “An alignment of the federal standard is the last piece of the puzzle to ease the path on the critical aspect of enforcement,” said the association’s executive vice president, Eryn Balch.
| Year | Step toward a U.S. olive oil standard |
|---|---|
| 1990 | First NAOOA petition to the FDA |
| 2008 | Connecticut adopts a detailed standard, California follows |
| 2009 | New York and Oregon adopt similar rules |
| 2010 | USDA revises its voluntary grade standards |
| 2012 | California producers draft a federal marketing order; NAOOA petitions the FDA again |
Two camps, two rulebooks
The timing is not a coincidence. Earlier this year a group of American producers led by California Olive Ranch drafted a federal marketing order that would set tougher grades and testing for olive oil produced in the United States. Industry sources told Olive Oil Times that domestic producers would then push for the same rules to cover imports. Importers, who supply nearly all the olive oil Americans use, want the U.S. standard aligned with the International Olive Council’s instead.
- The importers’ route: an FDA standard of identity, based on the international trade standard, that applies to everyone.
- The growers’ route: a USDA marketing order with stricter limits and new tests, starting with U.S. oil and possibly extended to imports.
- The common ground: both sides say the lack of an enforceable federal definition is the real problem.
Everyone in this fight is for “standards”; the argument is over whose. A standard built on the international rules suits oil that is traded, blended and shipped across oceans. A standard with extra freshness tests suits oil pressed near where it is sold. When a trade group asks for tougher rules, look at which of its members’ oil would pass most easily.
For the voluntary rules in force now, see USDA Olive Oil Standards Take Effect Today. Connecticut’s early move is in Connecticut Now Requires Listing Any Additives in Olive Oil, and California’s in California tightens olive oil labeling rules.