The International Olive Council is the international authority on olive oil and table olives and the forum where specific testing methods and standards are studied for these products. As such, it decided to address its written comments to the California Department of Food and Agriculture regarding the proposed grade and labelling standards for olive oil, refined-olive oil and olive-pomace oil presented by the Olive Oil Commission of California (OOCC) to the Californian authorities.
In its submission, the IOC Executive Secretariat outlines the role of the Organisation and its procedures for drawing up standards for grading and labelling olive oils. It explains why and how the draft standards proposed by the OOCC, set up recently to defend the interests of California olive growers, should be reworked for the benefit of consumers. The input of the IOC refers in particular to the proposed limits and definitions.
