Adulteration of Olive Oil

Edible Oil and Fat Products: Edible Oils
Magdi Mossoba

Magdi Mossoba

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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Cynthia Srigley

Cynthia Srigley

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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Sanjeewa Karunathilaka

Sanjeewa Karunathilaka

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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Ali R. Fardin-Kia

Ali R. Fardin-Kia

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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Clark Ridge

Clark Ridge

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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Emmanuel Hatzakis

Emmanuel Hatzakis

The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

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Betsy Yakes

Betsy Yakes

US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

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First published: 17 February 2020
Citations: 1

Abstract

The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) is mandated with protection of the US public against intentional adulteration of foods for economically motivated gain and deceptive label declarations such as those found with adulterated extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). In April 2016, a US Congressional Committee expressed concerns related to reports of the high prevalence of imported olive oil sold in the United States that is adulterated or mislabeled. Such fraudulence reportedly includes the mixing of EVOO with seed oil, which could adversely impact the health of consumers who are allergic to seed oil. The most serious issue facing regulatory agencies has been the relative ease of adulterating EVOO while meeting the physical and chemical criteria of established trade standards, such as those of the International Olive Council (IOC) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). This issue underscores the urgent need for more rigorous and accurate analytical methodologies, including untargeted rapid screening tools, for detecting such fraudulence. This article presents an overview of current official methods, analytical procedures that target specific analytes, and rapid screening tools that rely on chemometric analysis.

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