BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 818|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 818
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 3/30/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/6/11
AYES: Hernandez, Strickland, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee,
De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Food labeling: olive oil
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill revises current definitions of olive
oil and grades of olive oil and olive-pomace oil in state
law to conform to recently established United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law:
1. Establishes standards, based on international standards,
for the various grades of olive oil and olive-pomace oil
under the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Division
of the USDA.
2. Provides definitions for extra virgin olive oil, virgin
CONTINUED
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olive oil, olive oil, refined olive oil and olive-pomace
oil, and establishes the hierarchy for virgin olive oil
grades.
Existing state law:
1. Requires the Department of Public Health to enforce
various provisions of law regarding the manufacture,
blending, production, and sale of olive oil.
2. Conforms olive oil definitions, grades and labeling
requirements to international standards.
3. Authorizes the addition of vitamin E to specified olive
oil.
4. Permits a consumer to re-use a clean olive oil
container, can, or drum.
5. Specifies that olive oil labeled as California olive oil
must be made from California olives.
6. Permits the blending of olive oil if the contents and
proportions of the blend are prominently displayed on
the label.
This bill:
1. Makes various conforming changes in state law to conform
to federal standards, based on international standards,
which include objective criteria for the various grades
of olive oil and olive-pomace oil, including definitions
for extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, refined
olive oil and pomace-olive oil, as specified.
2. Prohibits olive-pomace oil from being labeled as olive
oil.
Background
Olive oil
Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, which has been promoted
in recent years as good for the heart and possibly a hedge
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against developing certain cancers. The Center for Science
in the Public Interest has determined that all research
suggests that olive oil is the safest and healthiest, or
the least damaging to the human system in terms of oil or
fat.
Olive oil production in the European Union
The European Union (E.U.) is the world's leading producer
of all categories of olive oils, accounting for
approximately 80 percent of production, yet they have
consumed approximately 70 percent of that production
since1986. Olive oil is produced in Italy, Greece, Spain,
Portugal, France, Tunisia, Turkey (an E.U. candidate
country), Syria and Morocco. The International Olive
Council (IOC) develops standards of quality used by major
olive oil producing countries, including Spain, Italy,
Greece, Portugal and Turkey. The IOC operates under E.U.
established regulations for olive oil, which are consistent
with CODEX Alimentarius definitions of the products, which
is an internationally used index.
A 2007 New Yorker article reported that in 1997 and 1998,
olive oil was the most adulterated agricultural product in
the E.U., prompting the E.U.'s anti-fraud office to
establish an olive oil task force. The E.U. also began
phasing out subsidies for olive oil producers and bottlers
in an effort to reduce crime, and after a few years it
disbanded the task force. Yet fraud remains a major
international problem: olive oil is far more valuable than
most other vegetable oils, but it is costly and
time-consuming to produce-and surprisingly easy to doctor.
Olive oil production in California
California produces 99 percent of the olive oil in the
United States. The olive was first brought to California in
the late 1700s by Franciscan padres who journeyed north
from San Blas, Mexico. Distributed from San Diego, olive
trees were soon in production at all missions along the
coast south of San Francisco. As an agricultural product,
quality olive oils are in high demand, and the state is
home to over 300 artisan olive oil producers, including the
largest estate grown olive oil producer in the nation.
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More than 99.5 percent of commercial olive acreage in
California is located in the interior valleys of central
California, although olive trees grow throughout the state.
Economic advantages such as suitable soils, water
availability, and low land prices have resulted on the
current distribution and concentration of olive acreage in
the central valley. In the northern Sacramento valley, the
counties of Butte, Glenn and Tehama have 33 percent of the
state acreage, and in the southern San Joaquin Valley, the
counties of Fresno, Kern, Madera and Tulare have 62 percent
of the acreage.
Unlike wine, virgin olive oil does not need to be aged to
create complexity. The faster the fruit is crushed, the
fresher the product will be due to the esterification
reaction that occurs over time between free alcohols and
free fatty acids. According to the COOC, California olive
oil producers are able to bring their fresh product to
market sooner than international counterparts, while most
imported olive oils can arrive months, sometimes even
years, after they are pressed.
Olive oil standards
Voluntary U.S. grade standards are issued under the
authority of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, which
provides for the development of official U.S. grades to
designate different levels of quality. The standards are
designed to facilitate orderly marketing by providing a
convenient basis for buying and selling, establishing
quality control programs and determining loans. The
standards also serve as a basis for the inspection and
grading of commodities by the Federal inspection service to
approve the designation of U.S. grades.
Effective October 24, 2010, the U.S. established new
standards for grades of olive oil and olive-pomace oil
under the AMS Division of the USDA. This is a revision of
the U.S. standards that have been in place since 1948.
According to the USDA, these revised standards will provide
a common language for trade and provide consumers more
assurance of the quality of olive oil they purchase. This
revision could potentially affect more than 500 domestic
olive oil producers and growers. In 2008, U.S. production
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was 500,000 gallons (about 3.8 million pounds). Domestic
olive oil consumption is roughly 454 million pounds per
year, mostly imported.
The new U.S. standards are almost identical to the
requirements of the IOC Trade Standard, with a slight
difference in regard to the natural chemistry of California
olive oil. The U.S. standard allows for slightly higher
levels of campesterol (4.0 in the IOC and between 4.0 and
4.5 in the U.S. standard) and linolenic acid levels (1.0 in
the IOC and between 1.0 and 1.5 in the U.S. standard) but
subjects the olive oil found to be in these ranges to
further testing. The sensory standard for the IOC requires
a median of defect score to be between zero and 3.5, in the
U.S. standard the range is between zero and 2.5, which
means the IOC allows for a slightly higher level of median
of defect, as rated by a sensory panel.
Prior Legislation
SB 634 (Wiggins), Chapter 694, Statutes of 2008, clarifies
the definition of olive oil, repeals previous licensure
provisions, conforms olive oil definitions, grades and
labeling requirements to international standards,
authorizes the addition of vitamin E to specified olive
oil, and permits a consumer to re-use a clean olive oil
container, can, or drum.
AB 2824 (Berryhill), Chapter 695, Statutes of 2008,
clarified the definitions of olive oil similar to SB 634
but was chaptered out by the provisions of SB 634.
SB 920 (Thompson), Chapter 543, Statutes of 1997, specifies
that olive oil labeled as California olive oil must be made
from California olives. If the olive oil is labeled as
coming from a viticultural area, as specified in federal
law, 75 percent of the oil must be from olives grown in
that viticultural area. Permits the blending of olive oil
if the contents and proportions of the blend are
prominently displayed on the label.
SB 1666 (Thompson), Chapter 530, Statutes of 1996,
establishes a working group of state and industry officials
to make recommendations to the Legislature concerning
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labeling standards for olive oil.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
CTW:kc 5/2/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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