The worst case I have heard of in the UK is people filtering waste oil and deodorizing it to make it smell like olive oil – this oil was being sold as pomace. When I saw the oil there were several tell tail signs, the bottle looked wrong, it had none of the legally required information on the label, the oil was very dark and not the usual golden colour of pomace. The oil smelt wrong, it smelt too olivey – a strange thing to say – but olive pomace should have a hint of traditional smell of olive oil – but it should not over power, after all remember what you use the product for. When I tasted the oil it tasted revolting – the overpowering taste was that the oil was burnt – all in all memorable for all the wrong reasons. This is of particular concern because we are being undercut by a product that is not what it is being sold as, and this is the worst example – more minor examples are olive pomace blend being sold as olive pomace – the tell tail tends to be the price. If is sounds too good to be true it probably is.

This brings me to gutter oil, whilst the market is a bit rough here in the UK it is nothing compared to China. Among the growing list of food safety scandals that have occurred throughout China in recent years which include; toxic infant formula, pesticide-tainted vegetables, exploding watermelons, lean meat powder and pork reconstituted as beef we can now add gutter oil to the nauseating list.

It involves, as the name implies, the resale of used cooking oil that has been scooped from sewers or bought from restaurants by criminals. As the result of an investigation that lasted six-months and targeted 14 provinces, the police broke up six illicit oil recyclers and arrested 32 suspects. The authorities recovered 100 tons of gutter oil they say was being processed for resale. As one might expect with China’s population and the heavy reliance on oil for the cooking of many staple dishes the proper disposal of waste cooking oil is a big problem. According to one source China consumes approximately 22.5 million tons of cooking oil annually, and they believe that as many as one out of every ten meals cooked in a restaurant are cooked in waste oil. He Dongping, a professor at Wuhan Polytechnic University, told the Chinese state media last year, that “there are serious health concerns associated with gutter oil. It can be contaminated with the fungus aflatoxin which can contribute to the risk of liver cancer.”

The gutter oil crackdown is just part of a broader effort to control China’s continuing food safety worries. Professor He Dongping believes that despite some significant success by the Chinese authorities it will take at least  ten years before the country cleans up its gutter oil problem.

In India, total imports of olive oil grew by 60 per cent in 2010. There is an increasing awareness in India about the numerous health and taste benefits of olive oil. However, this is largely restricted to the upper income sections of Indian society whilst the mass market in India is still waiting be tapped. When looking at the Indian market we see that there is an enormous potential market but the greatest scope lies in sales of olive pomace oil.

While the debate continues in Europe and the US around how to ensure the quality of extra virgin olive oil and to educate the consumer, consumers in India are getting an entirely different message. A new advertising campaign has been started in India to promote olive pomace oil. This is an extremely smart move on the part of the company responsible because they understand the realities of the Indian marketplace – they are not trying to introduce a new diet or a taste they recognise that the their target audience can take advantage of the health benefits associated with olive oil and still continue to cook their dishes in a traditional manner.

Everyday Indian food involves high-heat cooking. When used in the preparation of traditional Indian dishes extra virgin olive oil presented problems with high heat frying. It was found to be unstable and it imparted an olive flavour to the food therefore dramatically altering the character of the dishes. It was concluded that olive oil was unsuitable for Indian cooking and subsequently abandoned. However, when the Indian chefs tried cooking the same dishes with olive pomace oil they found that they experienced none of the problems previously encountered with olive oil.

The campaign in India is trying to persuade people to change from using unhealthy seed oils by explaining that olive oil doesn’t have to be expensive.  By using olive pomace oil olive oil’s famous health benefits can be obtained affordably and without altering the taste of traditional India dishes. It strikes me that this is a very sensible way to approach such a large and potentially profitable market.

Sherry vinegar is gourmet wine vinegar that is produced from the sherry grape. There are a number of sherry grape varieties, but the most commonly used in the production of sherry vinegar are the Palomino grape, the extremely sweet Pedro Ximénez grape and the aromatic Moscatel grape. Sherry vinegar is produced in the Spanish province of Cádiz and inside the triangular area between the city of Jerez de la Frontera and towns of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, which has become known as the ‘sherry triangle’.

The production and quality of sherry vinegar is monitored and controlled by the Consejo Regulador and Sherry vinegar has its own Denominación de Origen, which is protected by Spanish and EU law. The only other vinegars with similar protected designation of origin are “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale” from Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy and “Condado de Huelva” in Spain. Authentic sherry vinegar is called ‘vinagre de Jerez’, and by law the different grades must be aged in American oak barrels for a minimum of six months and up to or more than ten years. Furthermore, the vinegar can only be aged within the “sherry triangle” and must have a minimum of 7 degrees acidity. Most Sherry vinegars are aged using the same solera system as the Sherry wines and Brandy de Jerez. The micro climate of the Jerez area plays an important role in the production of sherry vinegar. The region of Cádiz, although very hot due to its southern position, benefits from cooling sea breezes which serve to maintain the fresh air circulation that is said to be vital to the eventual flavour of the vinegar.

The style of sherry vinegar depends mainly on the grape variety used to produce the wine it is made from.

• Palomino: Most sherry vinegar is produced from wines which were made from the Palomino grape. The wine being used to produce the vinegar can be young wine or can be a wine which has already aged.

• al Pedro Ximénez: Wines produced from the Pedro Ximénez grape are usually sweet, often very sweet, and consequently the vinegars produced from these wines are usually sweeter than other sherry vinegars or at the very least have a sweet raisin nose. Sometimes Palomino vinegars are sweetened with the addition of a small amount of Pedro Ximénez wine (residual alcohol can not be more than 3%).

• Moscatel: Small amounts of sherry vinegar are produced from the Moscatel grape.

The effect of aging on sherry vinegars is apparent. As they age they can become very dark through oxidisation, developing intense and complex flavours. The vinegar’s flavours develop over time, from fruity, right through to burnt, toasted and coffee, always with a woody and nutty backdrop. The Consejo Regulador has an age grading system: Vinegars with between 6 months and two years in wood are “Vinagre de Jerez”, those with more than two years but fewer than 10 are “Reservas” and anything with more than ten years in wood is a “Gran Reserva”. Vinagre de Jerez has a minimum of 6 months ageing in wood. Age is not the only thing to affect the taste of a sherry vinegar, the sherry used to make the vinegar will greatly influence the flavour.

I wrote on the 1^st of August about private storage, and for those still not aware of this phenomenon it is worth a quick read to familiarize yourself with the concept. It was, until this week, two years since the olive oil market last saw private storage activated, and the 26% overnight increase in the price of oil that accompanied its activation.

On September 29^th The European Commission announced that it will provide private storage aid enabling up to 100,000 tons of Spanish virgin olive oil to be stored for six months. The level at which private storage is triggered was breached in the week ending September 11 and this provoked renewed calls for the E.C. to introduce private storage. The stored oil will not be allowed to re-enter the market until after the end of the 2011-12 harvest, by which time the EU hopes that its intervention will have led to an increase in prices.

The EU’s Agriculture & Rural Development Commissioner Dacian Cioloş said that the EU had decided to allow the aid “in order to help the sector address some of its short-term problems. By providing a six-month storage period [the EU] believes that [they] will not adversely affect the market at the start of the new season”. Rosa Aguilar, Spain’s Minister of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, stated that the introduction of the aid was “an extremely important step for Spain, which produces 80 percent of virgin olive oil in the EU”. It would provide a boost for 500,000 producers and 1,700 mills. Agrarian organizations FAECA and COAG said the step should have been taken months ago. FAECA said it was nevertheless welcome as it would “help provide some relief for Andalusian producers”. COAG said the current situation was “unsustainable after three seasons selling below production cost.”

When this happened two years ago we saw an immediate 26% increase in the price of extra virgin and virgin oil. However, I do not see this happening this time, in fact there is a strong case to be made for the price of extra virgin not increasing at all. At the present time Spain still has 300,000 mt tonnes of oil to sell from last years harvest. Currently the mills are having to find space for the 2011-12 harvest, which is predicted to be between 5-7% better than the 2010-11 harvest. Whilst Spain has experienced strong export led demand for its oil this year, one of the main drivers of this growth has been the price of its oil relative to its competitors. Any increase in price cannot easily be passed on to its export markets without losing export sales. Therefore, with oil left from 2010-11 and markets unwilling to absorb any price rises I cannot see private storage having any significant effect on the price of extra virgin olive oil in the next few months.

The way to view these oils is not simply as a replacement to olive oil but more so oils which are designed for an entirely different purpose.

Why would you use Avocado, Grapeseed, Rapeseed or Walnut oil?

Consumers are more willing to purchase a product when they know what it is best used for and, in the case of cooking oil, are able to taste the difference. However, there is a definitely a learning curve when it comes to educating customers on the uses and benefits of edible oils.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is currently the first ‘good fat’ choice with plenty of supportive material available to support its health benefit claims, but it is important to realise that there are other oils that are even healthier than the mighty EVO! The first and most important distinction to make is between virgin and pure oils. This is a simple – virgin oils are cold pressed whilst pure oils use heat and solvents to extract the oil, as a general rule refined oils have a higher smoke point. There is a distinct difference in both the cost and taste of these oils.

Grapeseed Oil is the oil of choice in a number of Asian countries; it is high in antioxidants and possesses cholesterol-lowering properties. It has a 251° C smoke point, which is almost twice that of olive oil. Grapeseed Oil is excellent for searing or sautéing as no additional flavours will be introduced to the dish. The oil is neutral and non-greasy which makes it a versatile addition to the kitchen.
Avocado Oil has a neutral yet pleasant buttery flavour and is known for its high smoke point of 260° C. The high smoke point gives it the ability to withstand high-heat cooking. It is also a very versatile salad oil and has proven health benefits linking it with lowering cholesterol.
Sales of cold-pressed Walnut Oil are increasing; rich in Omega-3 with a nutty flavour, it is another popular ingredient in salad dressings whilst sales of Hazelnut Oil are also increasing.

Hazelnut Oil is higher in monounsaturated fat than walnut oil and it is lighter and fruiter. At a higher price point there is Pistachio Oil, which offers not only a fabulous deep green colour but an intense nut flavour. This can be used in a number of ways including during the making of ice cream or drizzling over the finished dish.

Macadamia Nut Oil has a smoke point of 210° C and therefore, can withstand high temperatures and lends itself to sautéing and frying. It is classed as a good fat that is high in monounsaturated fats, and has high levels of Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Rapeseed Oil is growing in popularity and has many health-giving properties. In a similar manner to olive oil, rapeseed oil contains Omegas 3, 6 and 9, essential fatty acids known to reduce cholesterol and maintain a health heart, joint mobility and brain function. It is also a rich, natural source of vitamin E. High in mono-unsaturated fats. It is has a high smoke point 265° C and can be heated to deep-frying temperature without its antioxidants, character, colour and flavour spoiling. It is a light, nutty oil with a dusty flavour.

British rapeseed oils have been gaining traction within the home market as a result of gaining popularity with celebrity chefs and top kitchens and it has been branded the British olive oil – the one downside to this description is that you cannot escape the light dusty flavour which is inescapable by even the very best rapeseed oil.

Finally, there is Pumpkinseed Oil. As with Rapeseed Oil, Pumpkinseed oil is gaining in popularity with top chefs. The oil is made from the green and yellow striped pumpkin that is grown primarily in Austria. It is expensive to produce and the seeds are harvested by hand, roasted and then pressed to create a dark green oil with an intense colour and aroma. High in zinc, vitamins E, A, B, C, D and Omega 3 and 6, Pumpkinseed oil is full-flavoured and used to finish dishes such as soups or grilled fish or to mix with cider vinegar to create a nutty vinaigrette.

Is your olive pomace oil olive pomace oil or is it blend, is your extra virgin olive oil or an olive pomace blend?

Adulteration is simply the blending of the product you are buying with a cheaper alternative to lower the cost of production. This is quite a sophisticated process and the masters of this process create oils that are very difficult for the average consumer to detect. Olive oil is has a much greater value than most other vegetable oils, but it is costly and time-consuming to produce and it is surprisingly easy to blend without detection.

Adulteration is especially common in Italy, the world’s leading importer, consumer, and exporter of olive oil. If you are interested in this please see the earlier article entitled “The Importance of Traceability,” where this is explored at great length.

The reason we are revisiting this is because currently Spanish prosecutors are seeking a robust custodial sentence coupled with fines of 8,760 euros for three Andalusian businessmen who have been accused of olive oil fraud and deceptive advertising. The case stems from a national investigation in 2006 called “Operation Cholesterol”. It arose as a result of a sustained series of complaints of suspected olive oil adulteration which were substantiated by testing conducted by the appropriate regional authorities.

The prosecutors claim that these people have sold a mixture of 70-80% Sunflower and 20% Olive Oil  as extra virgin olive oil, to compound matter further the oil was found to contain E141, a food additive not approved for use in cooking oils, to enhance the colour and appearance of the oil.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and whether there are any similar prosecutions throughout Europe.

Of prime importance to consumers is the knowledge that what is on the label is what is in the bottle. The Olive Oil industry is no different to any other industry, and this is especially true at the present time, when margins are under constant pressure – the potential for fraud exists. Olive oil fraud comes in two main varieties, 1) miss-labelling/miss-selling and 2) adulteration.

Miss-labelling & Miss-selling

One of the constant worries facing consumers is that what they are buying is olive oil. Is your olive pomace oil olive pomace oil or is it blend, is it extra virgin olive oil or lampante, or an olive pomace blend. How can you be sure? There are a few simple steps, first ask yourself is the price too good to be true, if it is then there is a strong probability that the reason for this is that it is not the product that they say it is. Second, are you working with a reputable supplier, whilst even the largest firms have been duped, larger firms conduct regular quality audits and buy from reputable sources. Three, ask for a full technical analysis and product specification. Ask your supplier to provide all the factories certification and accreditation and finally spot check the product for yourself. If you work with a company such as Campden BRI you can get your oil analysed for a relatively modest fee.

A 2010 report by the University of California’s Davis Olive Centre, found that 69% of imported olive oil samples and 10% of California olive oil samples labelled as extra virgin failed to meet the IOOC and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for extra virgin olive oil. Teams from the Australian Oils Research Laboratory in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and the University of California at Davis Olive Centre analyzed 14 imported brands and five California brands of extra virgin olive oils from three different regions of California.

The two laboratories evaluated the oils based on standards and testing methods established by the IOOC and USDA and as well as several newer standards and testing methods adopted in Germany and Australia. The tests found that in the majority of cases samples of imported olive oil labelled as “extra virgin” and sold at retail locations in California did not meet the criteria for extra virgin olive oil set out by the IOOC and the USDA. Sensory tests showed that these failed samples had defective flavours such as rancid, fusty, and musty. These negative sensory results were supported by chemical data in 86% of the cases.

The report was critical of the standards put in place by the IOOC and USDA and  concluded that the IOOC/USDA standards would be more effective in assessing and enforcing olive oil quality by including another test referred to as the German/Australian DAGs standards which were recently adopted in Germany. Oil often fails to meet quality standards for a number of reasons three of which are oxidation by exposure to elevated temperatures, light, and/or aging, adulteration with cheaper refined olive oil and poor quality oil made from damaged and overripe olives, processing flaws, and/or improper oil storage. Taking all this onboard it is important to use oils with full accreditation and traceability from olive grove to table.

Adulteration

Is your olive pomace oil olive pomace oil or is it blend, is extra virgin olive oil or an olive pomace blend. Adulteration is simply the blending of the product you are buying with a cheaper alternative to lower the cost of production. This is quite a sophisticated process and the masters of this process create oils that are very difficult for the average consumer to detect. In 1997 and 1998 the European Union was forced to conclude that olive oil was the most adulterated agricultural product in the European Union.

This prompted the E.U.’s anti-fraud office to establish an olive-oil task force. The task force was disbanded after a few years, but fraud remains a major international problem. Olive oil has a much greater value than most other vegetable oils, but it is costly and time-consuming to produce and is surprisingly easy to blend without detection. Adulteration is especially common in Italy, the world’s leading importer, consumer, and exporter of olive oil.

For those who are interested there is the famous case of Domenico Ribatti, which can be read about in Tom Mueller article ‘Slippery Business’.

The price of oil in Spain is currently so low that we do not envisage it going significantly lower, the only caveat to this is if we see a significant movement in the price of Sterling vs. the Euro. At the present time, the price has become a political issue, and there is no desire from the major bottlers to see an intervention in the market, the net effect of this is that the market for Spanish Extra Virgin should continue to be stable over the next few months. There is a good deal of oil left in Spain’s reserves from the 2010/2011 harvest, so with the upcoming predicted bumper crop the Co-ops will need the storage space. The effect of which is that there might be some good deals to be had towards the end of the season.

The Greek market is also relatively stable and with the current crop predictions, if there is to be any movement in the price, the likelihood is that it will be a downwards movement in the price. The only potential that exists for an increase in the price of Greek extra virgin oil is if we see the large Spanish and Italian bottlers buying large quantities of oil to use in the blending of their high-street brands.

As you may or may not know a large a percentage of the high street consumer brands are oils made up of extra virgin oils from all over the Mediterranean basin, and these oils are blended to a specific taste profile. Greek oil is used in this blending process to reduce the finished oil’s acidity and bitterness. However, with good oils coming from Turkey and Spain the likelihood of this happening is low – so we see no reason to secure Greek oil in anticipation of an increase in the price.

There is some concern from some of our producers about the Italian 2011/12 crop, they feel that if the rain does not come in the next few weeks the harvest will be damaged and the quality of the oil will be lower than in standard seasons. However, prices recently dipped in Italy after their high in May/June so there is some confidence that the Italian crop will be up from last year. However, it is worth keeping an eye on the rains in the South of Italy and Sicily over the next few weeks.

The olive oil market currently is stable with the Spanish market  having  enjoyed  record sales in July. However, things have quietened down as the holiday season takes hold and the factories slow down. The good news is that the price of extra virgin is stable and looks set to remain so for the rest of the year. Next seasons crop is predicted to be 8-10% higher than 2010/2011 leading to a continuation of this years low prices.

Banks still are refusing to lend against oil and olive stocks  and the spectre of private storage would appear to be more rumour than reality, and there is talk of the Spanish Government injecting an impressive 40 million Euros into the market in September – but one wonders where the money would come from and, with the new crop and at least 200,000 mt tonnes in reserve,  even if it did happen it should have  little to no effect on the price.  Furthermore, any such action would be counter productive and even harmful to new markets that are opening up and would be damaged by any negative movements in price.

There is  some negative news and this is that  the price of olive pomace oil is  gradually pushing upwards.  The European sunflower and rapeseed crop have been disappointing, both having been adversely affected by the very dry weather, consequently prices have risen. This has resulted in a knock-on effect on the price of olive pomace oil with it moving slightly up which is worth watching over the next few weeks.

The main driver of price remains the Euro. With the Bank of England’s policymakers remaining dovish over any rise in interest rates, there would seem to be little reason to see Sterling moving out of its current trading band of 1.10 – 1.15.

The caper is the pickled bud of this plant. If the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and produces a fruit called a caperberry. The leaves of the plant can also be used, they are prized in certain areas of Greece, where they are pickled or boiled and preserved in jars with brine.

Capers are categorized and sold by their size, with the smallest sizes being the most desirable:. Lilliput (3-5mm)  non-pareil (up to 7 mm), surfines (7–8 mm), capucines (8–9 mm), capotes (9–11 mm), fines (11–13 mm), and grusas (14+ mm). If the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and produces a fruit called a caperberry, which are also graded by size, small, medium and large.

The buds, when ready to pick, are a dark olive green and they are then pickled in salt, or a salt and vinegar solution, or drained. Capers are perhaps best known for being one of the ingredients of tartar sauce. They are also often served with smoked salmon or cured salmon dishes and feature heavily in Scandinavian salmon dishes. Capers and Caperberries  are also sometimes substituted for olives to garnish a martini. In some circles the Caperberry is called a Martini berry.

Caper leaves are excellent in salads and are commonly used in fish dishes. Capers are a distinctive ingredient in Spanish & Italian cuisine, especially in Sicilian and southern Italian cooking. They are most commonly used salads, pasta salads, pizzas, meat dishes and pasta sauces, the best example being Spaghetti alla puttanesca. Capers are often used as a seasoning or garnish.