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California
Olive Oil
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Volume 8 Issue 9 |
September-October 2005 |
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| Olive Oil Label Fraud | Events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paso Robles Olive Festival | Briefs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comments from the Internet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Olive Oil Label Fraud in Discount Supermarkets Der Feinschmecker Magazine, Hamburg Germany – Europe’s Largest Gourmet Magazine May 2005 by Horst Schäfer-Schuchardt & Kersten Wetenkamp, Photos by Wolfgang Schardt - reprinted by permission -
Translation by Roxanne Derni
In supermarkets "Extra Virgin olive oils" are offered at dumping
prices. We tested eight olive oils using the latest methods in two
laboratories. Nowadays olive oils are in great demand, because of the well-known positive health effects. Being among one of the most important ingredients of the Mediterranean cuisine, olive oil has become a fashionable food product. But how much should good olive oil cost? In a deli, Italian olive oils of the highest quality category; "extra virgin olive oil" cost about 10 to 20 Euro for half a liter. In a discount store olive oil, reportedly of the same quality, is available for about a tenth of the price: The 0,75 liter bottle "Luccese" costs 2.60 Euro at Lidl, "Cantinelle" 2.20 Euro at Aldi; "Bancetto" was offered at the time of our sampling for 2.20 Euro (in the meantime the article is not listed anymore and olive oil from Crete – 5 Euro for a 0.75 liter bottle – is provided under the same name) Are people who are spending a lot of money in the deli therefore foolish? No! We focused on four olive oils from supermarkets: "Cantinelle" from Aldi, "Luccese" from Lidl, "Bancetto" from Edeka and an organic olive oil called "Bio-Wertkost" also from Edeka. We tested these supermarket products and additionally compared them with four more olive oils with the exact geographic growing areas and supplier declaration. The four different products tested were very different from one another and not just concerning their flavors. In fact the alleged first class olive oils from the discount stores are refined, in other words thermally treated. Processed Oils Samples 1 – 4, Group 1 on Test
Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Samples 5 – 8, Group 2 on Test
This is a typical case of consumer deception. Up to now supplying
evidence was quite difficult if not impossible and too subjective.
The panel results of sensory tests, usually performed by "Stiftung
Warentest" (an independent German consumer organization), appeared
contestable. Furthermore, nothing negative was detected in the
discount oils using the currently applied chemical analysis. These
tests measure in particular the concentration of oleic acid, an
indicator of olive oil quality. For the four examined samples from
the supermarket the concentration of oleic acid is below a limit of
0.8 percent required by food laws. However, there are still some
other discrepancies. It is naive to assume that olive oils offered
at knockdown prices with fine-sounding names like "Luccese", "Cantinelle"
or "Bancetto" really are from Italy. They are way too cheap, the
price is below the local production costs. Expenses for harvest and
transportation are about 3.25€ a liter in Italy. Expenses for
pressing, bottling and labeling are about 7€ a liter in Italy for a
total cost of 10.25€ a liter and this is after the EU subsidies have
already been deducted. Reprinted with permission from Der Feinschmecker Der Feinschmecker contact: Kersten Wetenkamp – Kersten.Wetenkamp@Der-Feinschmecker.de Phytochemistry: Ibuprofen-like activity in extra-virgin olive oil Gary Beauchamp and other chemists published a September 1, 2005 article in Nature which links the compound in olive oil which causes throat irritation with anti-inflammatory compounds such as ibuprofen. Anti-inflammatory medications inhibit cyclooxygenase enzymes in the prostaglandin pathway. Oleocanthol, the pungent compound in some oils which creates a stinging sensation in the throat seems to work on the same pathway. Gary noticed the similar effect of ibuprofen, which he had been studying, and olive oil while on an olive oil and wine tasting vacation. Studies later showed that oleocanthol has anti-inflammatory properties. The amount of oleocanthol in different olive oils varies. Eating an oil with much oleocanthol would not amount to as much prevention of inflammation as taking an aspirin. Many studies have shown that aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs prevent recurrent stroke, heart attacks and maybe even some cancers. The fact that olive oil has these same anti-inflammatory properties may be one contributor to the salubrious effect of the "Mediterranean Diet"
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Paso Robles Olive Festival Paso Robles - The Paso Robles Olive Festival has fulfilled its promise of becoming the premier olive oil event in California. The second year for this event in the tree shaded main square of the town had more olive oil producers and olive related information and merchandise than all the other California state olive festivals combined. Paso Robles is in San Luis Obispo County in the middle of California half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Winemakers have discovered that the area makes Napa Valley level wines but unlike Napa which supports many small boutique vineyards, large wine companies have planted vines as far as the eye can see. Olive growers seem to have taken the same cue and are planting trees on a large scale. Twenty Six olive oil producers were in attendance as well as olive vendors, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC), The Olive Oil Source, and the Mission Olive Preservation, Restoration, and Education Project (MOPREP). Several local olive mills advertised their services; Figueroa Farms and Willow Creek Olive Ranch; both festival sponsors, as well as Foxdale Farm and Bone Crushing and Extraction Company.
Just in its second year, the show felt very professionally organized. The festival and all pre and post events ran like a well olive-oiled machine thanks to Paso Robles Main Street Association, all the great volunteers, Willow Creek Olive Ranch, presenting sponsor of the event, and Gary and DeeDee Brown of We Olive, who are the originators of the Paso Robles Olive Festival.
Pieralisi, the Italian manufacturer of most of the olive presses in California and their local representative, The Olive Oil Source, sponsored the Festival Dinner Friday night. Joeli Yaguda helped arranged the elaborate kick-off feast at Chef Tom Fundaro's Villa Creek Restaurant, a favorite among Paso Robles winemakers and olive oil producers. Each incredible course was produced using local olive oils and was joined by wines from festival sponsor Jack Creek Vineyard. After starters, tomato soup, sardine pasta and rack of lamb, a dessert cake made with rosemary olive oil topped with crème fresh and a sprig of rosemary was paired with the dessert wine. The Festival Dinner was sold out months in advance and promises to be a signature event next year. The next day the Festival got off to a hot start with temperatures over 100. Free olive oil ice cream went fast as did bottles of water.
Event founder Gary Brown of We Olive Oil gave tastings of area producers. A coming 3rd iteration of his retail location on the city’s main square will feature local oils. Merritt Edmunds of Balzana was pouring his Gold Metal olive oil across from Rosemarie Fusano of Fusano Olive oil. Her stunning Alphonse Mucha inspired labels adorned everything from oil to soap. Carmody McKnight offered tastes; one of many wineries which has planted trees and branched into the olive oil business. COOC Executive Director Patty Darragh organized local member volunteers to staff her booth while she made sure to get the word about olive oil to local TV, radio and print reporters in attendance. The Olivina, a new oil from an old olive producing area of the Livermore Valley offered tastes of their gold medal winning oil. Owner Charles Crohare is busy planting olive trees while others are sadly carving the lush valley into home and business construction sites. Oil producers are upping the ante when it comes to creative marketing ideas. Tiber Canyon had brisk sales of their nicely labeled V shaped bottle containing their mellow Tuscan blend oil, one of many great oils we tasted at the show. Figueroa Farms had logo inspired hats, T-shirts, and even bicycle jerseys reflecting Shawn and Antoinette Addison's passion for biking. Frank Menacho at Olivas de Oro was giving away free temporary tattoos of his logo, a unique mobile type of advertising. Several booths reported quickly running out of Xeroxed booklets of recipes using olive oil.
Tutta California creator Mary McCarthy had plenty of customers for her brightly labeled California blend. Chris Banthian of Valencia Creek Farms had good sales of her Le Colline label while partner Bruce Golino of Santa Cruz Olive Tree Nursery sold trees to prospective oil tycoons. Napa Valley producer Round Pond staff as well as Vineyard Canyon Olive Ranch of San Miguel owner Dean Kahan gave a thumbs up for sales at the show. Clotilde & Yves Julien of Olea Farms from Templeton were selling a variety of olive oil related merchandise at their booth. At the Cook and Ladder booth, by 3 PM bottles of jam were selling better than oil. By then oil samples the temperature of a deep fryer were discouraging tasters. We saw interest in getting away from the Mission and Tuscan varieties. New orchard owners were talking of planting French and some more unusual Spanish varieties. Bruce Golino said that while the French varieties haven't proven to do well in the cool coastal valleys they seem to thrive in the drier Sierra foothills. Carol Firenze did a brisk business selling her book The Passionate Olive - 101 Things to do With Olive Oil. She also spoke from the bandstand several times about olive oil and olives.
As well as free olive oil and olive product sampling from producers from all over California, there were head to head cook-offs, olive oil tastings lead by the California Olive Oil Council, Gourmet Alley serving great food, wine and beer tasting, kids carnival zone, open Olive Dish Cooking Contest, a farmer's market and a juried Arts & Crafts Show. The Saturday night after-party at Muddy Springs Restaurant off the square was full of exhausted, hungry vendors and organizers cooling off with a beer and enjoying gourmet appetizers. A very successful event and one everyone should look forward to next year.
Mail from the Internet: Neil Asks: I have recently bought an Olive tree which was planted in our Garden several months ago. We now seem to have many shoots not only coming up around where the root ball is, but also a fair distance away (amongst the grassed area). What is the best method to stop this unwanted growth? I was thinking of extracting the shoots and using these for plants to create a border at the end of our property. But will removing these shoots stop new shoot coming back again?? Olive Oil News: You could remove a section of the root with the shoot and use this to start a new tree. They are called suckers or truncheons which have sprouted. Obviously you must be judicious with this or you would sever all the roots and kill the tree. Most olive trees would rather be an olive bush or bramble if left to their own designs, so removing the suckers is a constant chore in orchards. This characteristic does allow them to quickly regenerate if frozen or burned to the ground though. See Propagating David
Asks:
I have an olive tree in its fourth year. The tree has fruit on it, but
the fruit is not yet large enough to pick and prepare - so I am waiting
for next season. Should I just leave the olives on the tree and allow
them to fall naturally, or should I pick them anyway to encourage growth? Toribeth Asks: I have a twenty year old olive tree that yields thousands of olives and little olive trees sprout all over the place. I have transplanted several and they are now a few feet tall. Will they ever have olives or are they only good for shade? Olive Oil News responds: Here is a story of reproduction without the birds and the bees. Technically, olive trees are hermaphrodites and bear both perfect flowers (containing both male and female parts) and imperfect flowers ( with only male parts). Some olive varieties are capable of self-pollination while others must depend on cross-pollination with different varieties. Farmers will place "pollinator" trees in an orchard to ensure successful pollination and a good crop when the main variety is self-incompatible. Even self-compatible cultivars fruit better with a "foreign" pollinator. Like other life which is propagated sexually, an olive tree will have traits common to both the male and female tress which were its progenitors. If it self-pollinates, then the olive seed produced will be similar to the tree it fell off of. Olive pollen can drift in the wind for miles, so if the olive is the result of cross-pollination from a different varietal, the seed will produce a tree with mixed traits. Simply put, the fruit from your seedlings which sprout all over may be different from each other even though they came off the same tree. They should all bear fruit. Because of this uncertainty with seedlings, olives are propagated by cloning cuttings from the same tree. See Propagating for the differences between trees created by different methods. A.L. asks: My
fiancée was candling my ears with Dr. Deane Answers: Not so long ago many people outside of olive oil growing regions never saw olive oil unless it was bought from the druggist for softening earwax and other medical uses. Several US olive oil producers keep bees and make beeswax and olive oil skin emollients. The olive oil serves to soften and liquefy the beeswax. Sandy Oaks owner Saundra Winokur in Texas and McEvoy Olive oil in Petaluma make olive oil and beeswax products. McEvoy's hand salve is available at the Ferry Building market in San Francisco or online and Sandy Oaks' salve is available online . You may be interested in the book we reviewed last month in our newsletter: The Passionate Olive - 101 Things to do With Olive Oil. John Asks: Is there any way of protesting at the totally inadequate answer given to the question on "extra light olive oil" - suggesting that polyphenols exist in this class of oil is absolute rubbish! (The question was whether polyphenols had been filtered out of extra light olive oil - ed) And M&M asks a related question: My understanding is that Olive oil bought in the USA is weak in hydroxytyrosol whereas Italian Oils are strong in hydroxytyrosol. I presume it is due to the different manufacturing process. Please advise where can I buy olive oil strong with hydroxytyrosol in Canada? Olive Oil News responds: Lets try again: hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol are some of the many phenol compounds in olive oil that contribute to bitter taste, astringency, and resistance to oxidation. They are now being played up in the press as a desirable health component of olive oil. Phenol content is determined by olive variety, time of picking, oil processing method, whether the oil is refined and the length of time the oil has been stored. Variety - Specific types of olives, such as the Tuscan varieties, will have higher polyphenol values. These oils are valuable in that when blended with a low polyphenol oil they will extend the shelf life by preventing rancidity. Time of picking - Most olives picked earlier in the year will have more polyphenols. Olives picked later in the winter have fewer polyphenols and a more mellow taste. Polyphenol concentrations increase with fruit growth until the olives begin to turn purple then begins to decrease. Years ago farmers valued the more mellow taste and tried to wait to pick their olives but risked freezing or loss to the elements. Now the strong earlier harvest taste has become popular. Processing method - Much is made of how the type of olive oil machinery will affect the flavor of extra virgin oil but in reality if used properly it has only a small influence. Extra virgin olive oil is made the same way with the same machinery in the US as in Italy. Only a tiny percent of the oil sold in the US is made in the US and is mostly artisanal extra virgin oil which is high in phenols. You cannot say that US oil is low in phenols and Italian oil is high. Most of the olive oil consumed in the US comes from Spain and Italy, and is usually refined. These mass market oils are generally refined and low in phenols. Refining takes olive oil which has already been made but which is old, rancid, was made from diseased olives or has some other sort of defect and makes it palatable. This is done by filtering, charcoal treatment, heating, and chemical treatment to adjust acidity. Refined oils are lower in tyrosol and other phenols. According to Wayne Emmons at Intertech, Extra Virgin Olive oil typically has 50-80 ppm polyphenols while refined oil has only 5 ppm. Storage - As oil sits in storage tanks or the bottle, the polyphenols will slowly be oxidized and used up. If you want an oil with more polyphenols, buy one that displays a date guaranteeing that it is fresh and that has been stored properly. Hydroxytyrosol and other phenols are not used in any legal definition so you can only make generalizations to how many there are in various types of oil. Oils labeled as "lite" or "light" refer to flavor, not caloric content, as all vegetable oils have the same amount of calories. Theoretically "light" could refer to an excellent extra virgin oil made from olives picked late in the year but usually it signifies a flavorless low quality (refined) oil from Italy or Spain. If you want an oil high in polyphenols, pick one that is guaranteed to be extra virgin (has the COOC seal if produced in the US), is from the current harvest season and that has been properly stored. Some varieties have high polyphenols; Frantoio, Lucca, etc. Look for US oils made from these varieties (go to custom search and search by olive oil variety) or look in a quality store or deli for a high quality extra virgin oil made with care and labeled as described in the Der Feinschmecker Magazine article above. Rita Asks: what is the best olive oil to bake with? I bake home made wheat bread Olive Oil News responds: You could bake with just about any olive oil. Use a mellow oil for a sweeter taste or try a pungent Tuscan style oil for a bread with more of an Italian character. Even flavored oils such as rosemary or jalapeno would be interesting. Events ----- 2005 ----- September The 44th Annual Meeting of the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society ” Sep. 14-16, 2005 Yokohama, Japan LINK McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday Sept 17 tel 707-778-2307 15th IFOAM World Congress 20-23rd September 2005 Adelaide Olive Oil Intro Saturday, 9/24
- 1:00 - 2:00 pm & Sunday, 9/25 - 11:00 am -
12:00 pm 26th World Congress and Exhibition of the
International Society for Fat Research - ISF October Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce 5th Annual Olive Festival Saturday, October 1, 2005 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont CA contact voice mail 510-873-7701 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday October 1 Petaluma, CA tel 707-778-2307 8th Annual Cañada College Arts & Olive Festival
Sunday, October 2nd
2005 Redwood City, California
for information call: Julie Mooney
olivefest@smccd.net,
650-306-3428 or go to
www.olivefest.org 4th annual Cape Olive Fair October 1, 2 South Africa, A delightful combination of olive oil, olives, wine, Mediterranean food, and festivity at Bishops College, Cape Town China International Olive Oil and Edible Oil
Exhibition October 10, 2005 in China
International Exhibition Center of Beijing Ms. Zhu Xiubin Tel: +8610
67104602 Fax: 010-51162961 67104603 Australian Olive Expo October 26th & 27th, 2005 Canberra www.australianoliveexpo.com November Eurolipids International Trade Fair for Fats & Oils and related Technologies, 2-4 November 2005, Frankfurt, Germany: Companies, producers and suppliers of: Vegetable and Animal Oils and Fats, Processing Machinery – technology and techniques, Fat and Oil Derivatives for the Food industry, Feedstuff industry, Oleo Chemistry Olive Oil Class at Cakebread Cellars November 5. Rutherford CA Help harvest the 2005 crop. Our resident Chefs will then teach you how to brine and cure as well as cook with olive oil. 13th Idleb Olive Exhibition
9-12/11/2005 Idleb Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Idleb -
Syria EIMA 2005 November 12-16 Bologna, Link California Farm Conference November 13-15, 2005 Marriott Hotel Ventura, CA The California Farm Conference serves to protect, support, and increase the economic viability of the state's small-scale farmers 2005 Shanghai International Olive Oil & Edible Oil
Trade Fair November 30 - December 2, 2005
Intex Shanghai Company Limited 88 Loushanguan Rd, Shanghai, P. R.
China several weeks ago. Contact Person: Mr GRIFIFTH XIE
MSN:greeting391@hotmail.com December Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo 2005 Dec 6th - 8th Global Links Exh. & Conf. Organizers, P.O. Box.86882, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Email:conferences@globallinksdubai.com Website : www.globallinksdubai.com
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