The IOC Tightens Its Olive Oil Limits From October
The International Olive Council has posted its updated trade standard online, with tougher chemical limits that take effect with the new season in October. Alkyl esters, the number that catches deodorized oil sold as extra virgin, are cut by almost half. Here is what changed, why it was six months late, and what it means for the bottle on the shelf.
What happened
The council announced yesterday that the English, French and Spanish versions of the revised standard for olive oils and olive pomace oils are now on its website, with Arabic and Italian to follow. Revisions are normally published in December, after the Council of Members adopts them at its regular autumn session. This time the adoption slipped to the end of May, which is why the council took the unusual step of announcing the posting at all.
The delay was not procedural. The council’s session last November broke up without a vote when it lost its quorum, leaving the budget and every technical recommendation in limbo for half a year. The 100th session was finally closed in Madrid on May 27, and the standard was agreed then.
What changed
| Parameter | Old | New | What it detects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alkyl esters | 75 mg/kg, ethyl plus methyl | 40 mg/kg ethyl esters in 2013/14, 35 the year after, 30 from 2015/16 | Deodorized low-grade oil blended into extra virgin |
| Stigmastadienes | 0.10 mg/kg | 0.05 mg/kg | Refined oil in virgin oil |
| Myristic acid | 0.05 percent | 0.03 percent | Palm oil |
| Waxes | Limits on total wax content only | 150 mg/kg for C42, C44 and C46 together | Pomace oil and second extractions |
| Campesterol | 4.0 percent | 4.5 percent, with conditions | Genuine oils that naturally run high |
The council also adopted a method for detecting extraneous oils, a method for sterols and triterpene dialcohols, a provisional method for alkyl esters and waxes using three grams of silica, and a revised method for the organoleptic assessment that decides whether an oil tastes like extra virgin.
The campesterol change is the one the New World has been demanding for years. Australia, Argentina and the United States argued that genuine oils from their varieties and climates can exceed the old 4 percent limit and were being shut out as a result. The council did not go to the 4.8 percent they asked for, and oils between 4 and 4.5 percent must now pass a set of decision trees, including a ceiling on stigmasterol, before they are accepted as genuine.
Why it matters for buyers
- Most of these changes came from the European Commission’s olive oil action plan, which asked the council to make the chemistry better at catching fraud rather than just grading quality.
- Alkyl esters are the interesting one. They rise when oil is made from poor, fermented fruit, and they survive the deodorizing process that removes the smell of a defective oil. A lower limit makes the trick harder to hide.
- The new limits apply from the 2013/14 crop year, which starts in October, so oil already in tanks is judged by the old rules.
- A standard only works where someone tests against it. The council writes the rules; enforcement belongs to national authorities and to buyers who pay for analysis.
Every time a limit tightens, two industries get busy: the honest one, which buys better fruit and mills it faster, and the other one, which learns how to sit just under the new number. That is why the council staged the alkyl ester cut over three seasons rather than doing it at once. If you buy oil in bulk, put the current limits in your contract, not the phrase “conforms to the IOC standard”, because the standard changes and the contract does not.
Sources
- International Olive Council: Updated IOC trade standard now posted online (July 4, 2013)
- International Olive Council: Busy week of meetings at IOC headquarters (May 31, 2013)
- Olive Oil Times: Council Says New Chemical Limits Will Improve Olive Oil Quality (May 29, 2013)