California Senate Bill SB411 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 411INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk FEBRUARY 20, 2013 An act to amend Sections 112876, 112876.5, 112877, and 112894 of the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 1 of Chapter 694 of the Statutes of 2008, relating to food. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 411, as introduced, Wolk. Food labeling: olive oil. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to enforce various provisions of existing law regarding the manufacture, blending, production, and sale of olive oil. Existing law defines olive oil and olive oil grades, such as virgin olive oils and olive-pomace oil, and provides that olive oil grades are to be in a specified hierachy. This bill would make technical changes to those provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 112876 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 112876. The  hierarchy   scale  for virgin olive oil grades shall be, from highest to lowest, extra-virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, and virgin olive oil not fit for human consumption,  sometimes   also  known as lampante virgin olive oil, which shall be the lowest level of quality among the virgin olive oils. In terms of  hierarchy   scale  , olive oil and refined olive oil shall fall below the virgin olive oil category. Olive oil grades shall be in the following categories: (a) Virgin olive oils. (1) Extra virgin olive oil. (2) Virgin olive oil. (3) Virgin olive oil not fit for human consumption without further processing,  sometimes   also  known as lampante virgin olive oil. (b) Olive oil. (c) Refined olive oil. SEC. 2. Section 112876.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 112876.5. The  hierarchy   scale  for olive-pomace oil grades shall be, from highest to lowest, olive-pomace oil, refined olive-pomace oil, and crude olive-pomace oil, which is the lowest level of quality among the olive-pomace oils. Olive-pomace oil grades shall be in the following categories: (a) Olive-pomace oil. (b) Refined olive-pomace oil. (c) Crude olive-pomace oil. SEC. 3. Section 112877 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 112877. Olive oil grades are defined as follows: (a) "Virgin olive oils" are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, including thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and that have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decanting, centrifuging, and filtration. Virgin olive oils without further processing include: (1) "Extra virgin olive oil" is virgin olive oil that has excellent flavor and odor expressed as a median of defects equal to zero and a median of fruitiness greater than zero, has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams oil, has a peroxide value of not more than 20 milliequivalent peroxide oxygen per kilogram oil and meets the additional requirements for "United States Extra Virgin Olive Oil" outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (2) "Virgin olive oil" is virgin olive oil that has reasonably good flavor and odor expressed as a median of defects between zero and 2.5 and a median of fruitiness greater than zero, has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 2 grams per 100 grams oil, has a peroxide value of not more than 20 milliequivalent peroxide oxygen per kilogram oil, and meets the additional requirements for "United States Virgin Olive Oil" outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (3) "Virgin olive oil not fit for human consumption without further processing,"  sometimes   also  known as "lampante virgin olive oil," is virgin olive oil which has poor flavor and odor expressed as a median of defects between 2.5 and 6.0 or when the median of defects is less than or equal to 2.5 and the median of fruitiness is zero, has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of more than 2 grams per 100 grams, and meets the additional requirements of the "United States Virgin Olive Oil Not Fit For Human Consumption Without Further Processing" as outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. This grade of olive oil is intended for refining or for purposes other than food use. (b) "Olive oil" is the oil consisting of a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption without further processing. It has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams oil and meets the additional requirements for "United States Olive Oil" described in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (c) "Refined olive oil" is the olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure (basic glycerin-fatty acid content). It has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams oil, and meets the additional requirements for "United States Refined Olive Oil" described in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (d) "Olive-pomace oil" is oil obtained by treating olive pomace, which is the product that remains after the mechanical extraction of olive oil, with solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by synthetic processes and a mixture with oils of other kinds. Olive-pomace oils shall be labeled and marketed with the following designations and definitions: (1) "Olive-pomace oil" is the oil comprising the blend of refined olive-pomace oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption without further processing. It has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams oil, and meets the additional requirements for "United States Olive-Pomace Oil" outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (2) "Refined olive-pomace oil" is the oil obtained from crude olive-pomace oil by refining methods that do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams oil, and meets the additional requirements for "United States Refined Olive-Pomace Oil" outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil Published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. (3) "Crude olive-pomace oil" is olive-pomace oil that is intended for refining for use for human consumption or that is intended for technical use and that meets the requirements for "United States Crude Olive-Pomace Oil" outlined in the United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil published in the Federal Register that are in effect on October 25, 2010. SEC. 4. Section 112894 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 112894. Virgin olive oil not fit for human consumption,  sometimes   also  known as lampante virgin olive oil, shall be refined before consumption. SEC. 5. Section 1 of Chapter 694 of the Statutes of 2008 is amended to read: Section 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) Extra virgin olive oil has been shown by numerous scientific studies to be associated with fighting cardiovascular disease and providing other health benefits. (b) California grows and processes more than 99 percent of the extra virgin olive oil produced in the United States, and more than 90 percent of California olive oil meets the international standards for top-grade "extra virgin" as established by the International Olive Council. (c) The quality of California olive oil is comparable to  other   the highest quality  the highest quality producers internationally. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that California's definitions of olive oil be consistent with international standards.