Nothing to do. The bureaucrats of the International Olive Council they once again reject the Italian request for immediately lower the minimum level of sterols (fixed to 1000 mg per kg) allow three cultivars of excellence from Italian olive growing – Coratin, Nocellara from Belize e Biancolilla – that they do not reach this limit (between 800 and 900 mg per kg) to be able to fall within the legal terms for the classification of extra virgin in the monovarietal version.
Despite the insistence of the authoritative chemical researchers designated by Masaf, technical summit of the International Olive Council it was reiterated that no exemption can be granted on the minimum limit of sterols compared to the three years of study and investigation envisaged by standards dated over time. And therefore, to ascertain that these are actually extra virgin oils, another year of observation and analysis of the samples will be necessary.
He announced it the president of Crea, Enzo Perri (in the picture) ad Agrilevante in progress at Bari Fair, underlining the absurdity of a decision that is contrary to common sense and which involves olive varieties they represent much of the production of Puglia and Sicily. But there is more: Perri highlighted that, once the three years of study are over, there will be no reduction in the sterol limit, it will simply be diverted to the so-called “decision tree”, that is to say, the other parameters that allow control bodies to carry out analytical evaluation to highlight the possible fraudulent addition of desterolized seed oils in extra virgin olive oils will be examined.
It is evident in this the interest of Spain, that monopolizes the Coi, of not wanting to grant any concession to Italy, especially on an issue - that of total sterols - which in fact penalizes exports of these monovarietals abroad (especially the US markets are tempting for Iberian varieties), forcing Italian producers to mix them with other varieties to exceed both the minimum threshold and the related controls.
Il analytical parameter relating to sterols is included, as is known, among the purity parameters and should be used to highlight the addition of fatty substances of other genetic origin (seed oils with a high oleic acid content) duly desterolized in olive oils.
From a qualitative point of view, it should be noted that extra virgin olive oils with sterols below 1000 mg/kg are certainly not of inferior sensorial or health quality to those that exceed this value. “The value of 1000 mg/kg of total sterols – he had the opportunity to remember the professor. Maurice Servili in a meeting atGeorgofili Academy – was established more than thirty years ago on the basis of the compositional characteristics of the oils extracted from olives and present on the market in that period and has never been updated”.
In the last few years, the entry of monovarietal oils onto the market it brought to the fore a problem that, at the time of the rule, could not have been foreseen because the oils at that time all came from multiple varieties. The same prof. Serve them, during a lesson held in Ancona, had highlighted that on 317 samples di oil di Coratina, Nocellara del Belice, Biancolilla, but also Cherry e Tonda Iblea (of which between 2016 and 2022 have been measured the total sterol content, results all lower than the 1000 mg/kg established by the standard) confirmed that the sterol content, at least as long as this limit remains, it could absolutely not be considered a parameter of purity of extra virgin olive oil. It should be remembered that Greece is also experiencing a similar problem, given that its prevalent variety, the Koroneiky, has the same problem of low total sterol content. None of the Spanish varieties, on the other hand, present this problem. And therefore, for the COI, it becomes a "non-problem".
