Calif. olive oil producers try to compete with imports
By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times
There’s a war over your salad dressing, and the front line has been drawn in California.
The Golden State is considering first-of-its-kind grading standards for olive oil that could have far-reaching consequences for the $5.4-billion global industry.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture may soon agree to require testing and certification for purity and quality. New labeling could also be introduced that would bar common terms such as “light” and “pure” olive oil.
The proposed standards would apply only to the largest California olive growers and millers, but they drew a rebuke from the European Union and the olive oil importer community, which view the rules as a blueprint for wider trade restrictions.
California olive oils are, for the most part, already more trustworthy than a lot of imports. I’m a label reader. You’ve got to be. An olive oil will say “packed in Italy” but upon further reading, you’ll find that the oil was imported to Italy from Turkey. Which may or may not be fine. But after being disappointed by the quality of some imported extra virgin olive oils, it’s definitely a ‘buyer beware’ market on the imports. I’m not surprised they don’t like the idea of stricter standards, though I’d prefer it to be voluntary standards through the industry, rather than through government.
I was alerted many years ago by the Bariani family that produces olive oil near Sacramento, that I should be leery of any olive oil from Europe. They told me it was adulterated with hazel nut oil and other things but was definitely not 100% pure olive oil. Then Martha Stewart did a tv show about this and even mentioned the Bariani’s as being honest producers. The family came here years ago from Italy and brought their own milling equipment with them and have their farms near Sac.
I think its now sold in Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, but at least its olive oil and not mixed junk!