BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 411
AUTHOR: Wolk
AMENDED: April 1, 2013
HEARING DATE: April 24, 2013
CONSULTANT: Marchand
SUBJECT : Food labeling: olive oil.
SUMMARY : Requires any olive oil produced, processed, sold or
possessed in California, that indicates on its label that it is
from an area that is one of the approved American Viticultural
Areas (AVAs) established pursuant to federal regulations, to be
made of oil derived solely from olives grown in that approved
AVA, rather than the existing law requirement that at least 75
percent of the oil be derived from olives grown in the AVA.
Existing state law:
1.Requires any olive oil produced, processed, sold or possessed
in California, that indicates on its label "California Olive
Oil," or uses words of similar import that indicate that
California is the source of the oil, to be made of oil derived
solely from olives grown in California.
2.Requires any olive oil produced, processed, sold or possessed
in California, that indicates on its label that it is from an
area that is one of the approved AVAs as set forth in federal
regulations, to be made of oil 75 percent of which is derived
solely from olives grown in that approved AVA.
Existing federal regulations:
1.Establishes AVAs, which are defined as delimited grape-growing
regions having distinguishing features, a name, and a
delineated boundary. Permits a petition for the establishment
of an AVA to be made by any interested party, and specifies
what information must be contained in the petition. There are
approximately 200 approved AVAs across the country, with
California AVAs including Napa Valley, the Central Coast,
Yountville, St. Helena, Paso Robles, Sonoma Valley, and many
others.
2.Permits a wine to be labeled with an approved AVA appellation
if no less than 85 percent of the wine is derived from grapes
grown within the boundaries of the AVA.
Continued---
SB 411 Page 2
3.Permits a wine to be labeled with an appellation of origin
other than an AVA, such as a state or county, if at least 75
percent of the wine is derived from fruit or agricultural
products grown in the appellation.
This bill: Requires any olive oil produced, processed, sold or
possessed in California, that indicates on its label that it is
from an area that is one of the approved AVAs established
pursuant to federal regulations, to be made of oil derived
solely from olives grown in that approved AVA, rather than the
existing law requirement that at least 75 percent of the oil be
derived from olives grown in the AVA.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. In 2012, the University of California
Davis Olive Center (Olive Center) issued their third study
testing the quality and authenticity of extra virgin olive oil.
This study reaffirmed the existence of fraud, mislabeling and
adulteration of extra virgin olive oil imported and sold in
California. Consumers continue to be misled by deceiving and
fraudulent labels, and as a result continue to pay premium
prices for low-quality products that fail to provide the many
health benefits of using genuine extra virgin olive oil. SB 411
is one step to assuring the consumer that they are getting the
pure product they are paying for by requiring that any olive
oil that states an AVA on its label, is solely derived from
olives grown in that jurisdiction.
2.UC Davis Olive Center Reports. The author cites a report from
the Olive Center as finding fraud in the labeling of olive oil.
According to its September 2012 report, the Olive Center
evaluated 21 olive oil samples sold to the restaurant and food
service sectors. The Olive Center's analysis found that all
but one of the 15 "extra virgin" samples passed the most
commonly used United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
chemistry standards, but despite this high passage rate, 60
percent of the samples failed the USDA "extra virgin" sensory
standard. Some of the oils were so defective that they were
labeled as "not fit for human consumption" under the USDA
SB 411 Page
3
standard. Further, chemical purity tests indicated that one of
the 15 "extra virgin" samples and one of the six "olive oil"
samples were adulterated with inexpensive canola oil.
3.Related legislation. SB 250 (Wolk) proposes to create an Olive
Oil Commission of California to engage in olive oil quality
and nutritional research and to recommend grades and labeling
standards. SB 250 was passed by the Senate Agriculture
Committee, and is pending in Senate Appropriations Committee.
4.Prior legislation. SB 818 (Wolk), Chapter 567, Statutes of
2011, redefined California's olive labeling requirements to
conform to the United States labeling standards as outlined in
the U.S. Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace
Oil published in the Federal Register, as specified.
SB 634 (Wiggins), Chapter 694, Statutes of 2008, clarified the
definition of olive oil, conformed olive oil definitions,
grades, and labeling requirements to international standards,
authorized the addition of vitamin E to specified olive oil,
and permitted a consumer to re-use a clean olive oil
container, can, or drum.
SB 920 (Thompson), Chapter 543, Statutes of 1997, specified that
olive oil labeled as California olive oil must be made from
California olives. SB 920 also required olive oil labeled as
coming from an AVA to have at least 75 percent of the oil made
from olives grown in that AVA.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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