Industry lauds FSSAI's new regulations related to quality of olive oil

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued regulations for the olive oil industry. These clarify a number of issues related to the description, composition, quality characteristics, additives, contaminants and labelling of the product. 

An official with the country's apex food regulator said this was done to standardise the product against impurities, adulteration and other issues (particularly those related to the consumers' health), because olive oil is now highly in demand as a cooking medium. 

FSSAI set parameters for the maximum permissible concentration for heavy metals like arsenic and lead as 0.1mg/kg, while labelling should only be allowed as per the regulations already prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006. 

It also stipulated that the composition of refined olive oil as oil obtained from refining methods without alteration in glyseridic structure with free acidity be not more than 0.3g per 100g, whereas olive oil fit for human consumption with free acidity be not more than 1g per 100g. 

For extra virgin olive oil, the acidity was not more than 0.8g per 100g. The acidity for virgin oil was set at 2g per 100g. Similarly the free acidity of pomace oil, consisting of blend of refined olive pomace oil and virgin olive oils, was set at 1g per 100g, and for refined olive pomace oil, it was set at 0.3g. 

The regulations further define the quality characteristics as follows:

Parameters	Virgin olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil and ordinary virgin olive oil	Refined olive oil	Olive oil	Refined pomace olive oil	Pomace olive oil
Moisture and volatile matter (Max)	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Insoluble impurities (Max)	0.1%	0.05%	0.05%	0.05%	0.05%
Trace metals (Max) Iron (Fe) Copper (Cu)	3mg/kg 0.1mg/kg	3mg/kg 0.1mg/kg	3mg/kg 0.1mg/kg	3mg/kg 0.1mg/kg	3mg/kg 0.1mg/kg
Refractive index at 20 degree C	1.4677-1.4705	1.4677-1.4705	1.4677-1.4705	1.4680-1.4707	1.4680-1.4707
Saponification value (mg KOH/g oil)	184-196	184-196	184-196	182-193	182-193
Iodine value (Wijs)	75-94	75-94	75-94	75-92	75-92

While the regulations do not permit any additives in virgin olive oil, additives are allowed in others, but their quantity should not exceed 200mg per kg
The industry called it a step in the right direction, adding that it would help in the standardisation and clarification of the issues related to olive oil.
Experts state that India is becoming a leading importer of olive oil. Its imports have seen a 50 per cent rise in recent times. During the last fiscal, they amounted to 12,000 tonne. Spain is the largest importer of olive oil to India, followed by Italy.
Atul Kumar, president, Indian Importers Association, lauded the decision and added that it would fix a number of issues related to standards of olive oil.
“Olive oil was earlier a generic term, but now the new regulations have specified the characteristics and compositions that would help in the trade of olive oil after imports,” he said.
“The product would then have to be tested in labs, and with set parameters, this would help the industry as well as most of the olive oil is repackaged after imports,” Kumar added.