Sonoma County olive oil producers hail new standards

Local olive oil producers say a new California standard for quality and labeling of their product will provide a boost for their burgeoning industry, despite claims by importers the rules are protectionist and not based on global norms.

The standards, which go into effect Friday, were proposed recently by the state Department of Food and Agriculture. They govern the quality and purity of olive oil produced in California and are designed to provide better labeling for consumers.

It applies to those who process more than 5,000 gallons annually, which is currently 15 companies that represent 98 percent of the state’s market, said Steve Lyle, department spokesman.

“We’re excited about the standard. We are excited because our product that we sell is a high-quality olive oil,” said Nancy Cline, owner and operator of The Olive Press in Sonoma.

“It literally helps define to the public the difference between California-produced oil and quite a few of the imports that come in (that) ... they say they’re olive oil, and they aren’t necessarily so,” Cline said.

“It’s a big deal for us,” said Deborah Rogers, olive oil production manager for the McEvoy Ranch outside Petaluma. Rogers said McEvoy will fall under the new standards as it produces about 7,000 gallons annually, but it will not cause any disruption because its olives are grown organically and certified as extra virgin by the California Olive Oil Council.

“We are happy about it. We have always followed those standards,” Rogers said.

California producers contend the new standards will help level the playing field between them and Mediterranean importers from Spain, Italy and Turkey and other countries that control 98 percent of the approximately $1 billion U.S. retail market.

They argue many of these importers fail to adhere to quality practices and sell mislabeled “extra virgin” olive oil at a much lower cost that is rancid or adulterated with cheaper refined oils, such as canola oil.

Their campaign was buoyed by research from the UC Davis Olive Center that found most of the top imported brands failed to meet International Olive Council standards for “extra virgin” olive oil. A 2011 study found 73 percent of samples tested from the top five importers failed sensory standards for extra virgin olive oil.

“In the business, we all know these improprieties have been going on,” said Dan Cohn, president of the B.R. Cohn Winery and Olive Oil Co. in Glen Ellen. “I believe the consumer is becoming more aware.”

To obtain the extra virgin seal from the California Olive Oil Council, a producer must submit to a lab analysis to ensure proper handling and storage of the product. The oil then goes through a blind-taste panel to determine if it is free of defects.

The new state standards contain two new tests beyond the state council’s process for certification, said Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne, an industry consultant and author. One test measures the oil’s exposure to heat and light, and another determines the quality of the fruit and its processing.

The standards also beef up labeling regulations and ban misleading ones such as lite, pure, light and extra light.

“I think it’s tremendous,” Kicenik Devarenne said. “Most people don’t know what it is when it is called ‘extra light.’”

The new standards do not apply to importers, but their trade group was opposed to it as they view it as the first step toward including them in the future.

“We fully expect that they plan to use as a model and try to expand it,” said Eryn Balch, executive vice president of the North American Olive Oil Association.

Balch’s group successfully fought against a bid by California House lawmakers to include language to the federal farm bill that would have allowed the Agriculture Department to impose additional import controls on olive oil, including testing to ensure correct labeling.

In that fight, New York lawmakers opposed the inclusion at the behest of their Greek-American and Italian-American constituents. The East Coast represents about 50 percent of the U.S. retail market for olive oil, Balch said.

The importers contend the two new tests for the California regulation are not used in any mandatory standard in the world, and that the UC Davis studies were based on bad science, Balch said.

“It’s arbitrary, it’s subjective and it’s not based on sound science,” Balch said,

The labeling standards were more to set a marker because California producers were not using the now prohibited terms, she said.

But local producers said the standards will help raise the quality of the product on the retail shelf and ultimately benefit the consumer.

“I think lends a credibility to the entire industry in the state,” Cline said. “It raises the bar for the rest of the world.”

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.