Olive pomace oil

Retail grades

The International Olive Council has classified olive pomace oil into the following categories:

Crude olive pomace oil

Olive-pomace oil whose characteristics are those laid down for this category. It is intended for refining for use for human consumption, or it is intended for technical use.

Refined olive pomace oil

Oil obtained by refining crude olive-pomace oil. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams and its other characteristics correspond to those laid down for this category.

Olive pomace oil

Oil consisting of a blend of refined olive-pomace oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are.

In 2001, the British Food Standards Agency removed from sale four Greek olive-pomace oil products that contained elevated levels of benzo(a)pyrene.

In 2001, the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumption, without declaring a health alert, ordered the precautionary immobilisation of olive pomace oil in Spain after detecting the presence of alpha-benzopyrene in batches exported to the Czech Republic that exceeded the limits set by the World Health Organization. Alpha-benzopyrene (or benzo-a-pyrene) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) present in many foods, especially those that have undergone heating at very high temperatures (over 300 °C), such as those cooked on grills and barbecues.

The immobilisation of the oil resulted in a collapse in demand in Spain and abroad, reducing consumption by less than half in the following three years. Although the product withdrawal lasted only a few weeks, the consequences were very negative for the sector, which sued the Administration for damages estimated at 100 million euros. In July 2007, the Spanish Supreme Court declared the withdrawal of olive pomace oil illegal, considering the confiscation by the Ministry of Health unjustified and disproportionate. Before that ruling, several Spanish regional governments were condemned to pay compensation to sector entrepreneurs as they were competent to execute the health alert.