Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 65, legislation by Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, changing an outdated labeling law that enabled olive oils to say they were produced in California, or a region of California.
“As California’s olive oil industry continues to grow, it is critical that labels accurately reflect the product consumers are buying,” Wolk said, who chairs the Agriculture Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production and Emerging Products. “If olive oil uses ‘California’ on the label, then 100 percent of the oil must be from olives grown in California. If a reference is made to a specific region in California, then that’s where the majority of that olive oil should have been grown. There must be truth in labeling.”
In addition to requirements relating to the use of “California” on labels, SB 65 requires that if an oil’s label references a specific region in California, then at least 85 percent of the oil, by weight, must be from olives grown in that specific region.
Additionally, if reference is made to a specific estate within California, then at least 95 percent of the oil, by weight, must be from olives grown on that specific estate.
SB 65 reflects new standards set by the Olive Oil Commission of California, established by a law Wolk authored in 2013. The commission engages in olive oil quality and nutritional research and recommends grading and labeling standards to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.