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In normal layman language, olive oil is the oil prepared from ripe black olives, fruit of an evergreen tree which has been cultivated since over 5,000 years now. However, when it comes to defining different types of olive oil, there exist more than one set of standards.
There is an International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) which has given Trade standards applying to olive oils and olive-pomace oils. Many countries follow the IOOC standards barring a few. The US is one of them and it has the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Many people complain that the labels on organic olive oil cans do not represent their content. Is this true? Yes, this is very much true. Many manufacturers take advantage of the age-old standards for grades of olive oil used in the US. While the IOOC has set standards grading types of olive oil as virgin olive oil, refined olive oil, olive oil, etc., the US uses a system that grades olive oils as fancy, choice standard.
Many European, African and South American countries use the IOOC standards while the US uses its standards set in 1948. As a result some manufacturers bring olive oils shipments into the US market claiming them to be virgin olive oil, while in reality it is not virgin olive oil.
The North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) does monitor the olive imported into the US, and ensures that such fake labels are minimized. However the inability of the association to check labels in bulk shipments leads to some mislabeled products getting into the market.
Is there any solution to this problem? Well you can always try to check the contents of the olive oil you are purchasing with the USDA standards and IOOC standards. The US government can also help by becoming a member of the IOOC or upgrading its grading system.
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