Grading Basis of Olive Oil

Grading Basis of Olive Oil

Grading Basis of Olive Oil:

The grading is done based on free fatty acid content (calculated as oleic acid according to the Official and Tentative Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists), absence of defects, (degree of freedom from cloudiness at 60 degrees F), odor (typical olive oil odor and its variation to off-odors) and flavor (typical olive oil flavor and its variation to off-flavors). It has given a 100 point score sheet for olive oil in which free fatty acid content, an absence of defects, odor, and flavor have weights of 30, 30, 20, and 20 respectively.

Fancy: US Fancy refers to olive oil that has a fatty acid content of no more than 1.4 percent (27-30 points). It should be entirely free from any defects (27-30 points). It should have good typical olive oil odor (18-20 points). It should have good typical flavor (18-20 points). Finally, it should have a total score of no less than 90 points.

Choice: US Choice refers to olive oil that has a fatty acid content of more than 1.4 percent but not more than 2.5 percent (24-26 points). It should be reasonably free from any defect (24-26 points). It should have a reasonably typical olive oil odor (16-17 points). It should also have a reasonably good olive oil flavor (16-17 points). It should have a score of no less than 80 points.

Standard: US Standard refers to olive oil that has a fatty acid content of more than 2.5 percent but less than 3.0 percent (21-23 points). It should be fairly free from any defect (21-23 points). It should have fairly good typical olive oil odor (14-15 points). It should have fairly good typical olive oil flavor (14-15 points). It should have a score of no less than 70 points.

Substandard: Substandard quality refers to olive oil that has free fatty acid content of more than 3.0 percent (0-20 points). It has more defects than what is present in the US Standard type of oil (0-20 points). It fails to have even a fairly good typical oil odor (0-13 points). It fails to have a fairly good typical olive oil flavor (0-13 points) and scores less than 70 total points.