Connecticut's High Olive Oil Standards

Premium olive oil is expensive to produce, making it susceptible to fraudulent labeling. To protect olive oil consumers, the state of Connecticut has set change in motion. In November, Connecticut consumer protection officials announced that the state is now the first in the nation to set quality standards to protect the purity of olive oil. The regulations are similar to those set by the International Olive Council in Spain, which created legal definitions for "virgin," "extra virgin" and "olive-pomace" oil. Wholesalers who don't follow the standards face a fine.

The U.S. standards haven't been updated since the late 1940s, making it possible for slippery suppliers to state that a bottle is filled with pure extra virgin olive oil, when it's not. We can thank food importer Luciano Sclafani for catching some of the lying suppliers. When he saw a three-liter tin of extra virgin olive oil a couple of years ago selling for $9.99, he smelled a rat. Lab tests showed it was a cheap knockoff, 90 percent soybean oil and 10 percent pomace, the olive oil that's collected from the ground flesh and pits after pressing. But the main importance of the regulations is for consumer safety. People allergic to soy, peanuts or other foods need to know their virgin olive oil is pure, or it can lead to life-threatening situations. New York is interested in creating similar regulations, and California's regulations take effect in January.—Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.