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Olive oil: Marketing standards

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 on marketing standards for olive oil gives specific provisions for olive oil marketing standards (outlined below), including labelling requirements which are in addition to the general labelling provisions in the Food Labelling Directive.

General labelling requirements

The labelling of most food in the UK is governed by the provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Labelling Regulations 1996, these implement the European Community Food Labelling Directive 2000/13 EC.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 require that most pre-packed foods carry a name; a list of ingredients, the amount of the main ingredients used to make the food; a date mark; any special storage conditions or conditions of use; the name and address of the manufacturer, packer or EC seller; instructions for use; and the place of origin of the food, if failure to give it might mislead. The FSA has produced Guidance Notes on the Food Labelling Regulations 1996. The general requirements include provisions covering intelligibility of labels.

Intelligibility of labels

Information on labels of pre-packaged foods in accordance with our food labelling rules must be given in a language which consumers understand, this will usually mean the language of the country in which the food is sold. However, there have been instances where food imported for sale in communities where the majority speak a language other than English has been sold with labels in other languages and this has been accepted by the Courts.

The provisions in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 on intelligibility are:

38.-(1) The particulars with which a food is required to be marked or labelled by these Regulations or by Regulation 1139/98, or which appear on a menu, notice, ticket or label pursuant to these Regulations, shall be easy to understand, clearly legible and indelible and, when a food is sold to the ultimate consumer, the said particulars shall be marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible.

(2) Such particulars shall not in any way be hidden, obscured or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter.

(3) Paragraph (1) of this regulation shall not be taken to preclude the giving of such particulars at a catering establishment, in respect of foods the variety and type of which are changed regularly, by means of temporary media (including the use of chalk on a blackboard).

Food law enforcement in the UK is the responsibility of local authorities, usually through their trading standards or environmental health offices. You may therefore also wish to obtain advice from your local authority Trading Standards Department. If you want any general information on food labelling you may wish to contact the Food Standards Agency. Nonetheless, ultimately, decisions on interpretation of the law can only be made by the Courts.

Specific labelling requirements

Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 states that oils must not be presented to the final consumer in packaging of no greater than 5 litre capacity, which has been fitted with a non re-sealable opening system.

Article 3 of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 on marketing standards for olive oil makes provisions for specific label requirements including more precise information on the category of oil. This is in the interest of providing the consumer with better information.

The labelling of olive oil shall bear, in clear and indelible lettering, the following information on the category of oil, in addition to the trade descriptions described above:

a) extra virgin olive oil - 'superior category olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means';
b) virgin olive oil - 'olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means';
c) olive oil composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils - 'oil comprising exclusively olive oils that have undergone refining and oils obtained directly from olives';
d) olive pomace - 'oil comprising exclusively oils obtained by treating the product obtained after the extraction of olive oil and oils obtained directly from olives'
OR - 'oil comprising exclusively oils obtained by processing olive pomace oils and oils obtained directly from olives'.

Designation of origin

The provisions for 'designation of origin' are laid out in Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 and apply only to extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil. The designation of origin must relate to a geographical area that must be either a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and/or a Member State, the Community or a third country. Regional designations may only be used for oils with PDO or PGI status and the area specified must be where the olives were grown and harvested. If the designation of origin indicates the Community or a Member State, it must correspond to the geographical area in which the oil was extracted from the olives.

If the olives were harvested in a Member State or third country other than that in which the mill where the oil was extracted is situated, the designation of origin has to contain the following wording: '(extra) virgin olive oil obtained in (the Community or the name of the Member State concerned) from olives harvested in (the Community or the name of the Member State concerned)'.

Optional Indications / Organeoleptic properties.

The indications 'first cold-pressing' and 'cold extraction' may only appear if certain conditions are met. These are laid down in Articles 5(a) and (b) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002. Similarly, the conditions regarding optional indication of organoleptic properties and acidity are laid down in Articles 5(c) and (d). Article 5 (c) will apply from 30 November 2008.

Indications of organoleptic properties relating to taste and/or smell may only apply for extra virgin and virgin olive oils. These terms are referred to in Annex XX/I of Reg 2568/91 and may only appear if they are based on the results of an assessment carried out  by the method contained in that Regulation.

Under Directive 2000/13/EC, indications shown on the labelling may not mislead the purchaser, particularly as to the characteristics of the olive oil concerned, or by attributing to it properties which it does not possess, or by suggesting that it possesses special characteristics when in fact most oils possess such characteristics.

Blends of oils

The following provisions are laid out in Article 6 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002. The percentage of olive oil present in a blend must be declared when it is highlighted on the labelling elsewhere than in the list of ingredients, using words, images or graphics. The presence of olive oil may be highlighted by images or graphics only where it accounts for more than 50% of the blend concerned.

The descriptions exra virgin, virgin and olive oil composed of refined olive oils shall not appear on the labelling of blends or products containing olive oils (except tuna in olive oils and sardines in olive oil), unless the olive oil is pomace, in which case it shall be specified..

Page last modified: 7 August 2008
Page published: 14 March 2005

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs