Article by jekky
producers over 750 million olive trees are cultivated worldwide 95 of which are in the mediterranean region most of global production comes from southern europe north africa and the near east world production in 2006 2007 was 2 767 million tonnes of which spain contributed 40 to 45 of the european production 93 comes from spain italy portugal and greece greece devotes 60 of its cultivated land to olive growing it is the world s top producer of black olives and has more varieties of olives than any other country greece holds third place in world olive production with more than 132 million trees which produce approximately 350 000 160 tons of annually of which 82 is extra virgin see below for an explanation of terms about half of the annual greek production is exported but only some 5 of this reflects the origin of the bottled product citation needed greece exports mainly to european union eu countries principally italy which receives about three quarters of total exports olives are grown for oil in greece with peloponnese being the source of 65 of greek production as well as in crete the aegean islands and ionian islands the most prized greek olive variety for oil production is the korniki originating from the area of korn in messenia this variety grows well on mountain slopes and produces very small fruit the high ratio of skin to flesh giving the oil its coveted aromatic qualities the variety is also suited to the production of agourlaio oil from olives that are slightly unripe when crushed in presses that are not capable of grinding the stone this oil is entirely free of acidity and possesses top tier organoleptic characteristics because not crushing the stones reduces oil yield production of agourlaio is limited to boutique presses run by entrepreneurs and small cooperatives among the many different olive varieties or cultivars in italy are frantoio leccino pendolino and moraiolo in spain the most important varieties are the picual alberquina hojiblanca and manzanilla de jan in greece koroneiki in france picholine in california mission in portugal galega in croatia oblica and leccino the oil from the varieties varies in flavour and stability shelf life australia now produces much many australian producers only make premium oils whilst a number of corporate growers operate groves of a million trees or more and produce oils for the general market australian is exported to asia and europe in north america italian and spanish s are the best known and top quality extra virgin oils from italy spain and greece are sold at high prices often in prestige packaging a large part of u s imports come from italy spain and turkey the u s imported 47 800 000 160 us 160 gallons 181 000 160 m3 of in 1998 of which 34 600 000 160 us 160 gallons 131 000 160 m3 came from italy the republic of south africa also produces extra virgin with production increasing to meet demand regulation and adulteration main article regulation and adulteration international council building the international council iooc is an intergovernmental organization based in madrid spain with 23 member states it promotes around the world by tracking production defining quality standards and monitoring authenticity more than 85 of the world s olives are grown in iooc member nations the united states is not a member of the iooc and the u s department of agriculture does not legally recognize its classifications such as extra virgin the usda uses a different system which it defined in 1948 before the iooc existed the california council a private trade group is petitioning the usda to adopt iooc rules the iooc officially governs 95 of international production and holds great influence over the rest iooc terminology is precise but it can lead to confusion between the words that describe production and the words used on retail labels is classified by how it was produced by its chemistry and by its flavor all production begins by transforming the olive fruit into olive paste this paste is then malaxed to allow the microscopic oil droplets to concentrate the oil is extracted by means of pressure traditional method or centrifugation modern method after extraction the remnant solid substance called pomace still contains a small quantity of oil the eu regulates the use of different protected designation of origin labels for s u s customs regulations on country of origin state that if a non origin nation is shown on the label then the real origin must be shown on the same side of the label and in comparable size letters so as not to mislead the consumer yet most major u s brands continue to put mported from italy on the front label in large letters and other origins on the back in very small print these products are a mixture of from more than one nation and it is not clear what percentage of the is really of italian origin this practice makes it difficult for high quality lower cost producers outside of italy to enter the u s market and for genuine italian producers to compete an article by tom mueller in the august 13 2007 issue of the the new yorker alleges that regulation particularly in italy is extremely lax and corrupt mueller states that major italian shippers routinely adulterate and that only about 40 of sold as extra virgin actually meets the specification in some cases colza oil with added color and flavor has been labeled and sold as this extensive fraud prompted the italian government to mandate a new labeling law in 2007 for companies selling under which every bottle of italian would have to declare the farm and press on which it was produced as well as display a precise breakdown of the oils used for blended oils in february 2008 however eu officials took issue with the new law stating that under eu rules such labeling should be voluntary rather than compulsory under eu rules may be sold as italian even if it only contains a small amount of italian oil in march 2008 400 italian police officers conducted operation golden oil arresting 23 people and confiscating 85 farms after an investigation revealed a large scale scheme to relabel oils from other mediterranean nations as italian in april 2008 another operation impounded seven plants and arrested 40 people in nine provinces of northern and southern italy for adding chlorophyll to sunflower and soybean oil and selling it as extra virgin both in italy and abroad 25 000 liters of the fake oil were seized and prevented from being exported adulterated oil is usually no more serious than passing off inferior but safe product as superior olive oil but there are no guarantees almost 700 people died it is believed as a consequence of consuming rapeseed canola oil adulterated with aniline intended for use as an industrial lubricant but sold in 1981 as olive oil in spain see toxic oil syndrome commercial grades the grades of oil extracted from the olive fruit can be classified as virgin means the oil was produced by the use of physical means and no chemical treatment the term virgin oil referring to production is different from virgin oil on a retail label see next section refined means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralize strong tastes characterized as defects and neutralize the acid content free fatty acids refined oil is commonly regarded as lower quality than virgin oil the retail labels extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil cannot contain any refined oil pomace olive oil means oil extracted from the pomace using chemical solvents mostly hexane and by heat quantitative analysis can determine the oil s acidity defined as the percent measured by weight of free oleic acid it contains this is a measure of the oil s chemical degradation as the oil degrades more fatty acids are freed from the glycerides increasing the level of free acidity and thereby increasing rancidity another measure of the oil s chemical degradation is the organic peroxide level which measures the degree to which the oil is oxidized another cause of rancidity in order to classify it by taste olive oil is subjectively judged by a panel of professional tasters in a blind taste test this is also called its organoleptic quality retail grades in iooc member nations italian label for extra vergine oil in countries that adhere to the standards of the iooc the labels in stores show an oil s grade extra virgin olive oil evoo comes from virgin oil production only contains no more than 0 8 acidity and is judged to have a superior taste extra virgin olive oil accounts for less than 10 of oil in many producing countries used on salads added at the table to soups and stews and for dipping virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production only has an acidity less than 2 and is judged to have a good taste pure olive oil oils labeled as pure olive oil or olive oil are usually a blend of refined and virgin production oil olive oil is a blend of virgin and refined production oil of no more than 1 5 acidity it commonly lacks a strong flavor olive pomace oil is refined pomace olive production oil possibly blended with some virgin production oil it is fit for consumption but may not be described simply as olive oil olive pomace oil is rarely sold at retail it is often used for certain kinds of cooking in restaurants lampante oil is olive oil not suitable as food lampante comes from olive oil s long standing use in oil burning lamps lampante oil is mostly used in the industrial market refined olive oil is the olive oil obtained from virgin by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure it has a free acidity expressed as oleic acid of not more than 0 3 grams per 100 grams 0 3 and its other characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard this is obtained by refining virgin olive oils with a high acidity level and or organoleptic defects that are eliminated after refining over 50 of the oil produced in the mediterranean area is of such poor