Virgin and extra virgin olive oils are sometimes adulterated with cheaper vegetable oils and lower-grade olive oils due to the high demand and price of high-grade olive oil. Not only is it important to authenticate olive oil to prevent fraud, it is also necessary to determine purity for the health and safety of consumers.

Read this case study to discover a simple way to tackle the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil. You’ll learn:

• Why there is research on olive oil adulteration;
• The mission of the first center in North America dedicated to olive oil research;
• How to authenticate olive oil quicker and easier; and
• The future of olive oil production.

Download this resource today!

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In response to several olive oil mislabeling scandals over the past few years, the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) has petitioned FDA to regulate virgin and extra-virgin olive oil, joining fellow trade organizations the American Olive Oils Producers Association (AOOPA) and Spanish producer Deoleo in the request.

A 2015 investigation by the National Consumers League found that six of 11 national brands had misrepresented quality grades to consumers, and a four-year audit revealed that 50 percent of olive oil did not meet international quality standards.

The petitions implore FDA to establish standards of identity for olive oil similar to those for tuna fish, mayonnaise, and other products. “Regulating olive oil to clearly define label terms and grades will empower consumers to make informed choices for their health,” Joseph R. Profaci, executive director of NAOOA, tells Food Quality & Safety. “Consumers need to know that health benefits can vary depending on a number of factors, some of which are related to the ‘grade.’”

This is the third time in the past 30 years that the trade association has petitioned the FDA to adopt an olive oil standard of identity, but so far, it has not happened.

“Over the past few decades, it seems FDA prioritized regulations based on consumer safety and risk, so regulating olive oil would not have been a high priority,” Profaci says. “In recent years, however, FDA’s focus has shifted to include regulations that facilitate healthy eating. The recent revamp of the nutrition facts panel is an example of this shift. So, we are optimistic this—our third time—will be the charm.”

The regulation proposed by the NAOOA is largely in-line with the most stringent international standards, but tougher in some respects to better ensure quality for consumers. “We hope that this time, FDA will recognize that there is a need for an olive oil standard of identity, and publish our proposed regulation for public comment so that all stakeholders might weigh-in,” Profaci adds. “We are proud that our proposal incorporates the latest widely accepted technologies, which would make it perhaps the strictest national standard in the world. But as olive oil science continually improves, Americans will be left behind if we have to wait another 30 years to update the standard.”

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Between revelations by Italian police in December linking organized crime to 7,000 tons of counterfeit olive oil, and an estimated four-fold increase in adulterated extra virgin oil following the dismal 2014 olive harvest, there is no denying that fraud remains rampant. With 72 percent worldwide sales of olive oil at stake and all eyes on industry practices, Italy is fighting back.

European Union and Italian government and trade organizations, including members of parliament, the Italian Trade Agency, UNAPROL (a consortium of Italian olive oil producers), and even an emissary of the Vatican, met last month to both address the problem of olive oil fraud and to outline their plans for a comeback.

“We must recuperate our damaged reputation,” said Colomba Mongiello, an Italian senator and president of the Counterfeiting Commission. She was responding to a survey conducted at Expo Milan 2015 in October, showing that 99 percent of foreign visitors involved believed that Italian olive oil was adulterated and that the consumer was being cheated. “Our objective is to reach the U.S. market and make them understand the difference between what looks Italian and what is Italian,” she said.

The conference, billed “Extract,” is part of a larger Italian effort to promote the country’s food and wine in the U.S., where imitation products labeled with Italian names, or colors of the Italian flag, are often mistaken for genuine imports. The strategy is two-pronged: legislating tougher penalties for fraud by going after Italian producers who don’t follow regulations, and launching the largest marketing effort ever made to inform American consumers how to taste and use extra virgin olive oil.

“We have to do the same thing we do with wine to get people to understand olive oil,” said culture guru Franco Maria Ricci, who spoke. “Four-year old children in France are taught that wine is an angel. Italy is an olive oil culture and [its] significance needs to be transmitted in the same way…If we don’t understand its qualities and terroir, we won’t understand its value.”

Crime has always been associated with olive oil, a substance so precious and prized in Mediterranean culture that its production and trade has invariably had a dark side. Merchants have been known to cut extra virgin with cheap oil to increase their profits since ancient times, and farmers had to fear brigands waiting in ambush as they transported oil to market.

Today, there is a different kind of criminal on the olive oil trail, principally the “Agromafia” that controls much of the industrial olive oil business in Italy. Its murky practices have both hurt ethical producers and confused consumers. As journalist and Zester Daily contributor Nancy Harmon Jenkins, author of “Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil,” told me recently, “The problem…is that there are two kinds of olive oil in the world: commodity oil and excellent oil, which is usually estate-bottled and always very carefully produced….[but] we keep trying to judge excellent oil as a commodity and vice versa.”

If Italy, which arguably produces the best olive oil in the world, has been a hotbed of fraud, it is also at the forefront of combating crime in the business. Where else are police trained to sniff out fakes at every stage of the supply chain? And who, but the Italians, have a system–IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) and the more stringent DOP (Protected Denomination of Origin)—that regulates the way it is made and that can lead us to the very trees it came from, and practically, the humans who crafted it?

From the terraced slopes and soft valleys of Italy’s central regions and the microclimates of Veneto and Liguria, to the expansive southern plateaus and sun-drenched islands, come some of the most sublime olives oils, produced by artisans who have the passion for making it in their bloodlines. Like the country’s new breed of winemakers who focus on quality over quantity, they are making delicious oils with the flavor peculiarities of their particular landscape. Utilizing the benefits of modern technology for cultivation while practicing sustainable growing and traditional picking methods, they are no doubt making better oil than their ancestors did.

That said, not all well-made olive oil carries the DOP seal. If we were to limit ourselves to those alone, we would miss out on many fine extra-virgins. As with “USDA Organic,” the rigorous and costly bureaucratic process discourages many a small ethical producer from applying.

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There is no other food quite like olive oil. There is also, apparently, no better motivator throughout history than the chance to make a quick buck. In the case of extra virgin olive oil, it has been prized throughout the ages for possessing unique qualities that delight the senses based on its nutritional, medicinal, cosmetic, and even ceremonial value. As a result, it is one of the most expensive—and also one of the most adulterated—food products in recorded history.

The earliest written mention of olive oil, on cuneiform tablets at Ebla, Syria, in the 24th century B.C., for instance, describes royal inspectors visiting olive oil crush mills in search of fraudulent practices. The Romans also developed strict regulations concerning olive oil. According to one industry resource into the history of olive oil, the Roman amphorae, or jars where the olive oil was kept, were carefully inscribed to show where the olive oil was produced, who produced it, when it was produced, and the quantity and quality of the product. In more recent times, modern science has extolled the virtues of extra virgin olive oil for its nutritional value, high antioxidant (including vitamin E) content, and its low saturated fat when compared to other oils. That, in turn, has led to a fraudulent business estimated by one law enforcement agency to rival the profits of cocaine without the high risk of being caught. Indeed, olive oil adulteration continues to attract global attention in a variety of media, from major news exposes and magazines to research labs and courtrooms. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, for instance, released the findings of a now famous 2010 study showing that more than two-thirds of the extra-virgin olive oil sold in California is neither extra-virgin nor in some cases even olive oil, as the real oil is often adulterated with cheaper, more available oils.

In still another recent venue reported by the Olive Oil Times in November 2013—in this instance a Washington D.C. superior courtroom—olive oil played a starring role in a suit filed and won by a consumer against a local grocer “for violating the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) by selling Pompeian brand olive oil mislabeled as ‘extra-virgin.’” According to the UC Davis study mentioned earlier, the Pompeian brand of olive oil was already known to be adulterated and the consumer simply purchased the product in order to file the suit for some quick cash. As outrageous as that lawsuit and its outcome appears, such reports continue to sound a clarion call for the oil industry and government regulatory agencies to take the necessary steps to guarantee the safety and purity of extra-virgin olive oil. Equally important is the need to restore the sense of trust consumers have lost in big olive oil brands and retailers who continue to sell adulterated products at a huge cost to consumers in terms of both money and, at times, their health. In 1981, more than 600 people died because of adulterated olive oil that contained rapeseed oil and aniline, causing a huge scandal.

Even now, however, some authorities continue to rely on little more than their senses to detect olive oil adulteration. Unfortunately, taste or smell may not be sensitive enough to detect more sophisticated adulteration or mislabeling techniques that fraudsters employ. Less expensive oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, and sesame oils that are commonly used to “cut” olive oil share many of the same properties, only in different proportions, and are impossible to detect without the use of modern analytical equipment. Unfortunately adulteration remains a big issue. As the olive oil industry looks for new ways to detect and deter criminal activity, increasingly they are looking to science for answers.

Science Supplants the Senses to Uncover Fake Olive Oil

It was not until the 1950s that science started to replace the senses in detecting non-authentic botanical oil substitutes in olive oil. Even with the development of modern gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC/MS), developing a quick, reliable, and cost-effective analytical approach to identifying the adulteration of olive oil with cheaper oil substitutes has proven to be both a slow and expensive process.

The main reason has to do with oil’s composition. Olive oil and other oils are primarily composed of triacylglycerols, which are highly concentrated stores of metabolic energy also known as dietary lipids. These molecules are derived from the esterification of three fatty acid molecules with a glycerol molecule, and they determine the fatty acid composition of oils.

While olive oil and its substitutes all contain fatty acids, olive oil possesses more than twice the amount of oleic acid. Conversely, olive oil possesses considerably less linoleic and linolenic acids than the cheaper additives. While measuring the ratio of these acids to oleic acid in olive oil is an effective way to detect adulteration of extra virgin olive oil, there are still some major drawbacks. Chief among them is the extensive amount of time that is needed for sample preparation, method development, and derivation.

A Faster Methodology

Fortunately, there is a new way to detect and confirm the authenticity of olive oil in a matter of seconds without hours of prep time. Using a real-time screening technology known as Direct Sample Analysis (DSA) integrated with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOF), the new process eliminates the need for chromatography and requires minimal or no sample preparation in rendering reliable mass spectra results in seconds.

For example, when comparing olive oil and soybean oil, the two oils were diluted in a 1 percent solution of isopropanol with 10 millimeters of ammonium acetate. The oils were then mixed in different proportions to simulate the contamination of olive oil with soybean oil at different percentages ranging from 5 percent and 10 percent to 25 percent and 50 percent. A small amount of each sample was then pipetted directly onto the stainless steel mesh of a DSA/TOF system for ionization and analysis. The DSA/TOF parameters for the experiment featured a corona current of 5 microampere with a heater temperature of 350 degrees Celsius. The TOF MS was then run in negative ionization mode with flight voltage of 8000 volts and capillary exit voltage of -120 volts for the analysis. Mass spectra were acquired in a range of mass-to-charge ratio 100 to 700 at an acquisition rate of 5 spectra/second. In order to realize the highest test accuracy, the TOF instrument was calibrated before each analysis. All samples were analyzed within 30 seconds, and results were immediately observable. Using DSA/TOF showed that the fatty acids mentioned earlier (oleic, linoleic, and linolenic) were all present in both olive oil and soybean oil. However, their relative proportion in each of the oils was quite different. The response ratio of linoleic acid to oleic acid was measured at 0.18 and 1.86 in olive oil and soybean oil, respectively. The response ratio for linolenic acid to oleic acid, meanwhile, was 0.017 and 0.29 in olive oil and soybean oil, respectively. That means the higher response ratio for linoleic and linolenic acid to oleic acid can, in fact, be used to detect adulteration of olive oil using DSA/TOF technology with an error of less than 5 parts-per-million (ppm).

In reviewing the results of the olive oil rapid screening experiment using a PerkinElmer AxION DSA with an AxION 2 TOF, it shows the higher response ratio for linoleic and linolenic acid to oleic acid in olive oil is an immediate and reliable factor in detecting oil adulteration. The mass accuracy of all measurements, in fact, was less than 5 ppm with external calibration.

Equally important is what the DSA/TOF experiment means for the olive oil producers, their customers, and global consumers. In addition to helping the olive oil industry restore its brand image and public faith in its product, employing DSA/TOF technology can eventually help to save lives as well as billions of dollars that are now needlessly spent on fraudulent and sometimes dangerous olive oil.

Palmer is food segment leader at Perkin Elmer. Reach her at Sharon.palmer@perkinelmer.com.

References

1. Tom Mueller, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, (W. W. Norton & Company, 2013), pp. 10, 29. See also, http://www.whyoliveoil.com/olive-oil-world/
2. Sally Errico,”Olive Oil’s Dark Side,” The New Yorker (February 8, 2012), http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/02/the-exchange-tom-mueller.html
3. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/15/business/la-fi-olive-oil-20100715
4. http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-business/mislabeled-olive-oil-to-make-a-buck/37090
5. http://www.whyoliveoil.com/adulteration/. See also, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/07/business/la-fi-olive-oil-20100707
6. Kristen Michaelis, “How to Tell if Your Olive Oil Is Fake,” Food Renegade (December, 2013), at: http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-tell-if-your-olive-oil-fake/
7. Annibal D.P.N. Fasciotti, “Optimization and Application of Methods of Triacylglycerol Evaluation for Characterization of Olive Oil Adulteration by Soybean Oil with HPLC-APCI-MS-MS,” Talanta (2010)81:1116-1125.
8. Avinash Dalmia and George L. Perkins, “Rapid Measurement of Olive Oil Adulteration with Soybean Oil with Minimal Sample Preparation Using DSA/TOF,” Application Note (PerkinElmer, 2013).
9. Ibid.

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Notice was given in the April 28, 2010, Federal Register that on October 25, 2010, revised U.S. standards for grades of olive oil and olive-pomace oil will become effective, replacing the first edition of the U.S. grade standards, which have been in force since March 22, 1948.¹

The new U.S. regulations will institute a testing regime comparable to the one used in Europe for the last 20 years. The acceptable characteristics of olive oil and the relevant methods for determining these were described in the original European Commission Regulation 2568/91. Now a European Union Regulation, 2568/91 has undergone a few minor amendments since its introduction in 1991 and sets out more than 20 analytical values for determining the relevant grade, quality, and authenticity of the olive oil under investigation.

A number of analytical tests can be used to detect whether cheaper oils have been used to dilute pure olive oil.

Eight grades are defined between the poorest olive residue oil and premium extra virgin olive oil. If any characteristic of an oil lies outside the defined limits, the oil must either be reclassified as a different grade or rejected on quality or authenticity grounds.

Criminal Oil

In Europe, the pressure to develop this regulation came out of the recognition that there would always be suppliers attempting to market low-grade olive oil as a more expensive higher grade or to substitute a portion of the olive oil with cheaper oil such as rapeseed or sunflower. Even with the regulations in place, this temptation still exists, and there have been several high-profile arrests for olive oil adulteration, especially in Italy. In 2008, seven olive oil plants were impounded and some 40 people were arrested in Italy for offenses relating to olive oil adulteration.

Of course, the problem is not restricted to Europe. In June 2010, in the Ontario Court of Justice, LIF Foods Inc. was fined $50,000 for unlawfully importing and selling a quantity of their brand, Porta Villa, labeled as extra virgin olive oil; the oil was actually determined to contain approximately 50% sunflower oil. In 2009, in the Special Commercial Crimes Court in Durban, South Africa, Salvatore Pollizi, owner of the company Ital Distributors, pled guilty to selling fake virgin olive oil under the names of Antico Frantoio and Ulivo.¹ The United States has also prosecuted people for similar offenses.

All such adulteration is reprehensible from a commercial perspective, of course, but one cannot underestimate the health risks. Europe, and Spain in particular, can still recall an infamous case from 1981 in which rapeseed oil adulterated with aniline and sold as olive oil in working-class neighborhoods of Madrid caused almost 700 deaths and up to 25,000 injuries.²

Madrid is now home to the International Olive Council (IOC), an intergovernmental organization created by the United Nations that represents the countries responsible for over 95% of the world’s olive oil production, most of which occurs in Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The IOC is responsible for administering the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives and for regulating international standards. The new regulation has been introduced largely to bring the U.S. industry in line with international standards. As a consequence, descriptions familiar to U.S. consumers, like “U.S. Fancy” or “U.S. Choice,” will soon be replaced by more internationally recognized terms, and new definitions for olive oil will now be introduced in the U.S.

Authentication

Of course, a regulation can only go so far in resolving an issue of authenticity. The essential problem in authentication is setting parameters that accurately define the composition of pure, fresh oil. Any oil is a complex mixture of components. These include tri-, di-, and monoglycerides; free fatty acids; saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fatty acids; sterols; aliphatic and other alcohols; flavonoids; and a variety of other organic molecules. For oils extracted from the same species of plant, regional variations in climate and soil conditions may affect the levels of some of these components.

That said, each type of oil usually has a fatty acid composition that is indicative of its plant source. So, although it may not be possible to verify authenticity from fatty acid content alone, the presence of the wrong fatty acids can be a very good indication of adulteration. This is true not just of olive oil but of any high-value oil to which a rogue supplier might be tempted to add a cheaper oil.

As noted above, the new U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations are intended to bring the U.S. in line with the IOC, even though the U.S. is not currently an IOC member. The international standard lists eight grades of olive oil in two primary categories, olive oil and olive-pomace oil or olive residue oil.

The revised U.S. grade standards will list eight grades and will have slightly higher limits for linolenic acid and campesterol, two of the components that are analyzed to determine the purity of the oil. The tests for linolenic acid and campesterol form part of a battery of tests with more than 20 analytes that are measured to assess the purity and quality of every olive oil.

Key Components

The testing regime adopted in Europe is essentially the same. The tests conducted can be loosely characterized into tests to determine the quality and authenticity of the oil and to detect the presence of the incorrect grade of olive oil. Free fatty acids, peroxide values, and ultraviolet (UV) determination are tests that ascertain the quality of the oil with respect to hydrolysis or oxidation of the oil.

The fatty acid profile, sterol profile, triglyceride analysis, and glyceryl 2-palmitate determination can be used to detect the presence of oils other than olive.

Erthyrodiol, uvaol, wax, and stigmastadiene analysis are used to detect the presence of olive-pomace oil and/or refined oil in virgin olive oils. Both the U.S. and Europe now require testing under the following broad headings.

Free fatty acids: The free fatty acid content, which is measured by total acidity, indicates quality, because acidity increases with hydrolytic activity, which could be due to poor quality, damaged olive fruit, or microbial activity.

Peroxide value: The oxidation of the oil is determined by the peroxide value, with a high value indicating a poor quality, older, or mistreated oil.

UV determination: The analysis of olive oils at certain UV wavelengths can be used to assess the oxidation of the oils and can also indicate the presence of a refined olive oil in virgin olive oil.

Fatty acids: Fatty acid composition is a useful indicator of purity or the presence of oils other than olive oil. High levels of trans fatty acids can indicate the presence of refined olive oil or other refined vegetable oils in a virgin olive oil.

Glyceryl 2-palmitate: Additional information is gained by determining which fatty acids are located at the 2-position (middle) of the triglyceride. High levels of saturated fatty acids at the 2- position are indicative of adulteration with an interesterified oil.

ECN42 (equivalent carbon number 42): The ECN42 is a test that measures the level of the triglyceride trilinolein and similar triglycerides. Trilinolein is a triglyceride that is abundant in oils such as sunflower, rapeseed, and grape seed but is virtually absent in olive oil.

Sterols: The total sterol content and measurement of individual sterols (cholesterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, delta-7 stigmastenol, and beta- sitosterol) gives an indication of authenticity. Beta-sitosterol is present in particularly high levels relative to the other sterols in olive oil. High levels of brassicasterol indicate the presence of rapeseed oil, and high levels of delta-7-stigmastenol indicate the presence of sunflower oil.

Waxes and diols: Levels of waxes and diols—erythrodiol and uvaol—are much higher in solvent-extracted olive oil (olive-pomace oil or olive residue oil) than in other olive oils. Virgin olive oils, which are obtained by pressing the olive fruit, contain lower levels of these components than the cheaper olive-pomace oil.

Stigmastadienes: Some tests indicate whether the oil has been bleached during the refining process. Stigmastadienes are formed when the sterol components are exposed to the high temperatures of the refining process. Refining virgin olive oils is not permitted, so a relatively high level of stigmastadienes is a good indicator of the presence of cheaper refined oils.

Taste: Many would argue that the sensory characteristics of the oil are what matter most, but even the most sensitive palate cannot detect every case of adulteration. Taste testing does help indicate age, quality, and rancidity, however.

Three Testing Categories

The revised U.S. grade standards divide tests into three categories: mandatory, confirmatory, and optional. As might be expected, the mandatory tests will have to be performed on all lots of olive oil and olive-pomace oil. These tests will include flavor, odor, color, free fatty acid expressed as oleic acid, peroxide value, absorbency in UV, fatty acid composition, trans fatty acid content, desmethylsterol composition, total sterol, and stigmastadiene content.

There are, of course, many other tests one might wish to apply, such as pesticide residue testing and heavy metal content. And there are many other oils to which one might wish to apply the methods about to be required for olive oil. The market offers plenty of high-value oils that are equally vulnerable to adulteration, after all.

RSSL’s laboratory has investigated the suspected adulteration, or helped assess the authenticity, of expensive specialty oils such as evening primrose, starflower, walnut, almond, and wheat germ. In the absence of regulatory standards, determining authenticity is often a case of reaching a judgment based primarily on the profile of fatty acids, sterols, and tocopherols.

It would be naïve to suggest that the introduction of new regulations in the U.S. will put an end to olive oil adulteration. It does, however, bring the U.S. market into line with international standards and provides a set of definitions and standards against which olive oil and olive-pomace oil can be tested and marketed, and against which problem oils can be identified and rejected.

It may take some time for the analytical infrastructure to catch up with the requirements, however. Not every laboratory will be equipped to offer every test, and, perhaps more importantly, not every analyst will be experienced in providing a judgement when faced with results that may be within, or at the limits of, specification.

In the gray areas of deciding whether to accept or reject a suspect supply, a regulation and set of standards will never give a 100% guarantee of confidence that an oil is authentic or not, and the judgement of an experienced analyst is often more helpful than the raw data. Sometimes it is the combination of results that indicates a problem meriting further investigation, or a situation may occur in which explicable and understandable natural variation produces results at the margins of acceptability.

Griffiths is a technical specialist in lipids at RSSL in the United Kingdom; for more information, contact Karen Masters at enquiries@rssl.com or +44 (0)118 986 8541.

References

1. University of the Free State. Successful conviction on edible oil adulteration. University of the Free State website. March 27, 2009. Available at: www.uovs.ac.za/news/newsarticle.php?NewsID=1279. Accessed November 1, 2010.
2. Riding A. Trial in Spain on toxic cooking oil ends in uproar. The New York Times website. May 21, 1989. Available at: www.nytimes.com/1989/05/21/world/trial-in-spain-on-toxic-cooking-oil-ends-in-uproar.html. Accessed November 1, 2010.

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