There have been a lot of questions over the last few years about the quality and purity of olive oil. USDA has expanded our Quality Monitoring Program to include extra virgin and organic extra virgin olive oil. This program already evaluates a variety of commodities including canned, frozen and certain fresh fruits and vegetables.
With many Americans looking for alternatives and additions at meal time, the popularity of olive oil has been on the rise. Consumers looking for the qualities and signature flavor of olive oil want to know that the products they buy will meet their expectations.
As part of the Quality Monitoring Program for olive oil, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) lab verifies olive oil quality and purity using criteria based on the U.S. grade standards for olive oil and international criteria. Our assessment also includes unannounced plant visits to review production processes, quality assurance measures, and recordkeeping systems.
Pompeian, Inc.—headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland—is the first manufacturer to participate in USDA’s Quality Monitoring Program for olive oil. Their operation qualified by meeting our rigorous review and evaluation process and their product met chemical testing and flavor analysis requirements. AMS will conduct ongoing, unannounced plant visits to verify that Pompeian continues to meet the Quality Monitoring Program for olive oil requirements.
AMS will apply these same measures for all firms who wish to participate in Quality Monitoring Program for olive oil. Visit our website to learn more about the Quality Monitoring Program.