Posted on 06/04/2010 4:31:40 PM PDT by Artemis Webb
CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. – Extra virgin, light, with lemon, unfiltered, cold-pressed: the variety of olive oil on most supermarket shelves is dazzling. But what does it all mean?
These terms might be common currency among foodies and the farmer's market crowd, but they have never been enforceable, or legally defined in the United States — until now.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in April adopted scientifically verifiable standards for nomenclature such as "virgin" or "extra virgin," with extra virgin considered the highest quality because it has the best flavor.
(snip)
"It will put an end to marketing terms that are confusing to the consumer, such as light, extra light — language that really doesn't meant too much," said Patricia Darragh, executive director of the California Olive Oil Council, a trade association of producers responsible for most US-grown olive oil.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Boy, we will just have to disagree.
I’m a big cook, my brother a professional chef ... cooking is paramount in the family. But Safeway, YUCK! You can have their oil. I’ll continue to buy my favorite quality brands.
You can call me a “phony” and I can call you a “naif”.
Yep, that's why there are non-governmental agencies that set standards on oil and wine, and certify compliance.
Using a compliance seal without complying is fraud.
/johnny
Then maybe you should start a thread about the limited powers of federal government since we are all talking about olive oil.
What you said. And we are talking millions of dollars lost to fraud. A legitimate function of government is to prevent and prosecute for fraud. I make soap and if I end up with adulterated olive oil my whole batch may very well be ruined. Fortunately I buy from one supplier only and they are very trustworthy, but it has happened to other soap makers.
I highly recommend Columbus Foods for cooking oils.
Correct me if I am wrong, but UL has standards for a very, very narrow range.
Is UL going to tell you if a product has peanut oil in it that can kill your son?
Again. multiple by thousands.
What did it mean to the founders? With states imposing import duties on each other?
No barriers to trade between states, is the original purpose.
Not the nit-picking control of every bottle of olive oil in the entire nation.
/johnny
You want the government to prosecute a private company for fibbing to another private entity? What a statist you are!
I thought it was the Society of Automotive Engineers.
/johnny
I have several Greek friends who miss the way it was done back in the village when they were children ~ extra virgin olive oil is of a piece with a fresh roasted goat on a spit turned by the youngest child. Also know some Arabs who are familiar with that practice, but rarely did their families get to USE extra virgin products ~ those were always sold for cash. They grew up on the last press stuff just before the hulls and other parts get tossed into the family mulch pile!
Guy down the street who really knows his olive oil likes the black bottle stuff for the same reason I do ~ it gets empty faster so you replace it with fresh oil.
LOL!
I thought extra virgin had a higher burn tempature.
BTW way - I switched to grape seed oil some time ago.
It’s lighter, no real taste, higher burn point and doesn’t go rancid like OO does...and rancid OO is far from healthy.
If that was the sole purpose of the Commerce Clause then they would have said so. The clause would have said "there shall be no economic or other barriers for trade between the states." Instead it says (paraphrasing): "the congress can regulate trade between the states". Like it or not, that's what it says, and I have no problem with truth in advertising.
No need to go ad hominem, Bunny.
Hippies don’t think logically.
I’ve presented you with irrefutable logic and I don’t ever have to test a thing - competitors and market mavens do it all for me.
When I go to buy a car I check Edmunds.com. When I go to buy a computer CNET. I find reviewers and ask friends. If I go to a restaurant or store and get bad food I never go again and tell all my friends. The market works, Bunny.
Look up “mavens” and you’ll be delighted to see how free people can manage their lives and get the all information they need to make sound purchasing decisions without government regulation.
"Free Republic advocates a return to constitutionally limited government, reserving all government powers not expressly delegated by the constitution to the United States to the States respectively, or the people, emphasizing sovereign state governments, local government, self-government and self-rule, while restricting government powers to only those enumerated in the constitution and maximizing individual rights and liberty as originally envisioned and established by our Founding Fathers and secured and defended by the blood of patriots and statesmen for over two hundred years. "
Hit abuse if you don't think it's appropriate.
/johnny
I have some Aldi's oil here ~ as well as Spanish oil ~ and it has good shelf life and works great in baking and cooking.
We are total snobs when it comes to fried foods ~ we use 1/2 Virginia peanut oil mixed with some other thing (free of chunks and cloudiness).
Hit abuse if you think I’m a statist.
This needed because much of what is marketed as “extra virgin olive oil” is badly diluted or adulterated.
You read that to say that congress can control everything bought and sold in the United States?
/johnny
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