Callahan & Blaine

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new guidelines for Olive Oil labeling went into effect on October 24^th, 2010. The new standards define grades of olive oil and establish chemical and sensory guidelines for determining each grade, including “extra virgin.” Bottles of olive oil should also now have a “best by” date printed on them so consumers know how long the product has been sitting on the grocery store shelf. Due to oxidation and light damage, older oils can fail sensory evaluation even if they were once actually “extra virgin”.

The new USDA guidelines were released in April, just three months before the UC Davis Olive Center put out a study that found 32 out of 52 samples of olive oils labeled “extra virgin” were not pure enough to carry the label. Most of the failed olive oils were imported, while the California-produced olive oils fared much better. The concern is that foreign producers regularly release mislabeled olive oil in the United States, and that consumers pay top dollar for inferior or even adulterated oils.

The USDA standards are voluntary, which means there are no enforcement or penalty mechanisms in the guidelines. California olive oil producers say the California Olive Oil Council standards are already stricter than the new federal government suggestions. It was a 2005 petition from the California Olive Council that spurred the USDA to adopt the guidelines in the first place, and most olive oil producers see them as a step in the right direction, though inadequate to ensure consumers know exactly what they are getting when they read a label.

Callahan & Blaine recently filed a class action lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against some of California’s largest distributors and retailers of so-called “extra virgin olive oil.” The suit charges that certain olive oil manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been labeling olive oil mixed with other edible oils as “extra virgin olive oil” in violation of California law.

The plaintiffs’ class for this case is represented by attorney Daniel J. Callahan, who is best known for a $934 million verdict that involved public health and safety issues in which Callahan represented medical product manufacturer Beckman Coulter.

Stay tuned to the media and this blog for more information on this emerging case as it becomes available.