Callahan & Blaine

A recent study published by the UC Davis Olive Center discovered that 69% of imported olive oils tested were not “extra virgin” as their labels claimed.  Before this study, despite widespread rumors and media reports, there was no concrete evidence that extra virgin olive oil was being adulterated. The study offers the first accurate, scientific picture of what is actually occurring in the olive oil industry.

Dan Flynn from UC Davis commented, “Our hope is that these findings will lead to improved methods for evaluating extra virgin olive oil, and increased consumer confidence that ‘extra virgin’ on the label means extra virgin in the bottle,” he said.

Extra virgin olive oils must be extracted in a specific, non-chemical way and should also meet standardized criteria for chemical makeup as well as taste and aroma. Many of the oils that failed the UC Davis test were rancid, oxidated, or were adulterated with inexpensive refined olive oil. Some were made from poor quality olives to begin with.

The USDA recently adopted standards for olive oil that go into effect in October of 2010. According to UC Davis, “to be considered extra virgin, the oils must meet very specific chemistry-based criteria, have no sensory defects, and contain some fruitiness in their flavor and aroma.”

The UC Davis Olive Center was founded in 2008 to help guide the California Olive industry into prominence, much like a similar U.C. Davis program did for the fledgling California wine industry in the 1970s.

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.

If you believe you should be a part of this suit, contact Callahan & Blaine right away.