19Extra-virgin olive oil traceabilityBruno ZanoniDepartment of Agricultural, Food and Forestry System Management,University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Abstract

Traceability consists of documented proof of the identity of a product and theresponsibilities involved in the production chain ‘from the field to the consumer’stable’. Traceability is based on documenting material balances through discretebatch monitoring and management. Four steps are described as the basic frameof any possible traceability scheme of extra-virgin olive oil: harvesting batches,milling batches, storage batches and packaging batches. The role of analyticalfingerprinting of batches is a complementary, not an alternative, tool for extra-virginolive oil traceability.

19.1 Introduction

Traceability consists of documented proof of the identity of a product and the respon-sibilities involved in its production chain ‘from the field to the consumer’s table’.

The primary goal of traceability is of a juridical nature: blame in case of physicalor economical or moral damage to the consumer due to wrongdoing or misleadinginformation. The second goal is of a technical nature: identification of the causes ofloss or spoilage in order to apply appropriate corrective action.

Since improper handling or fraud can take place at any step of the productionchain, a true guarantee requires that traceability covers the whole chain from pro-duction of the raw material to consumption of the final product.

Traceability is based on documenting material balances through discrete batchmonitoring and management. A batch is a portion of a given material having a spe-cific composition and identity (Peri et al. 2010).

A good traceability system requires that a company is able to give documentedinformation concerning all batches handled under its responsibility. These include

The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Handbook, First Edition. Edited by Claudio Peri.© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

246 CH19 EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TRACEABILITY

raw material, intermediate and final products. For each and every batch the followinginformation should be available:

• when: the given time (a date);

• what: the name and identity of the material, including its analytical character-istics, if available;

• how much: amount in weight units, preferably kg;

• where: the location or the identification code of a batch;

• where it came from: a previous operation or outside supplier(s);

• its destination: a subsequent operation or outside customer(s).

The identity of a product changes when a batch is mixed with other batches.Therefore, in traceability systems, any mixing should be recorded with the rela-tive amounts of the mixed components. New identification should be given to newlyformed batches.

Traceability requires that quantitative changes be recorded from the formation of abatch until its depletion. Such information should allow the company to demonstratea precise record of inputs and outputs, so that:

Inputs–outputs = quantity available in the company’s responsibility

19.2 Four basic steps

The following four critical steps must be considered for extra-virgin olive oil trace-ability (Peri et al. 2010).

Step 1 – the harvesting batches

A harvesting batch is defined as the batch of olives harvested and delivered to theolive mill as a unit mass, under the responsibility of the olive grove owner or a personotherwise responsible for olive harvesting. This information allows the relationshipbetween the quantity of harvested olives and the production potential of the olivegrove to be documented. Data to be recorded at step 1 are summarized in Table 19.1

Step 2 – the milling batches

A milling batch is defined as the batch of oil obtained from the milling process andput in a single container. A milling batch of oil may correspond to a batch of olives

19.2 FOUR BASIC STEPS 247

Table 19.1 Traceability data of harvesting batches.

Date The (hour and) day of delivery to the olive millResponsibility The name of the company or the person responsible for olive

harvesting, transporting and delivering to the millIdentification code A progressive number or other suitable code identifying the

harvesting batch at the olive mill receptionQuantity The weight of olives in kgOrigin The olive grove location and surface area or number of olive trees

corresponding to the olive batchOther identifying

informationAs, for example, the cultivar(s), the participation in a certification

scheme, etc.

Table 19.2 Traceability data of milling batches.

Date The (hour and) day of completing the milling batchResponsibility The name of the company or the person responsible for the milling

processTwo quantities The quantity of oil (kg) and the corresponding quantity (kg) of olivesIdentification code A progressive number or other suitable code. Some essential

analytical data of the milling batch are recommended

or may derive from the milling of several batches of olives or from the milling of afraction of a batch of olives.

The oil of each milling batch should undergo a simple analytical evaluation inorder to avoid mixing of incompatible milling batches.

Data to be recorded at the second step are summarized in Table 19.2:

Step 3 – the storage batches

A storage batch is the batch of oil contained in a single storage tank, to be storedunder suitable conditions before blending or packaging and selling. In general, stor-age batches are formed by mixing several milling batches.

The formation of storage batches is a pivotal step of the traceability chain. It isthe ending point of the production process and the starting point of the marketingprocess.

Suitable process control requires that the oil of storage batches be identified by astandard analytical procedure and an identity card, including, at least: free acidity,peroxide value, spectrophotometric values and the oil category based on the sensoryassessment of defects.

The storage company should comply with real-time recording of the identity ofa storage batch through the complete formation-storage-depletion cycle. Data to berecorded at the moment of the storage batch formation and during batch depletionare summarized in Table 19.3.

248 CH19 EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TRACEABILITY

Table 19.3 Traceability data of storage batch formation.

Date The (hour and) day of completing the storage batchOrigin The name of the company or the person responsible for the milling

processResponsibility The name of the company or the person responsible for the storage

processQuantity The quantity of oil (kg) contained in the storage tank as resulting from

the sum of the quantities (kg) of the milling batches making up thestorage batch

Identification code A progressive number or other suitable code, a precise identification ofthe storage tank and its location

Analytical profile The results of analyses demonstrating the analytical and sensoryconformity of the product to standards

The storage tankdepletion

Quantitative data of the oil taken for packaging or shipping should berecorded from the storage batch formation to its complete depletion. Ifthe storage time is very long, further analysis at suitable intervals (forexample, every 6 months) during the storage period is advisable.

Step 4 – the packaging batches

A packaging batch (or lot) is the batch of oil (usually a fraction of a storage batchor a blend of various storage batches) that is packaged into suitable containers to besent to customer(s).

An analytical profile (or an official certificate, if necessary) is an essential elementof this traceability step.

Data to be recorded at the fourth step are summarized in Table 19.4.At this point, the link of the oil in a single bottle with the olive grove(s), the

olive mill, the oil storage factory and the oil packaging factory, should be pre-cisely and fully documented. In recent years, various information systems have been

Table 19.4 Traceability data of packaging batches.

Date The day of the packaging operationOrigin The name of the company or the person responsible for the storage

processResponsibility The name of the company or the person responsible for the packaging

processQuantity The quantity of packaged oil (kg)Identification code A suitable code should be defined and printed on the packaging label

with precise identification of the packaging batchAnalytical profile The results of analyses demonstrating the analytical and sensory

conformity of the product to standardsDestination The name of the customer and the destination of the packaged oil

REFERENCES 249

implemented to allow the final consumer to use traceability codes on the bottle labelto get information about the origin and history of the oil.

19.3 Comments and conclusion

The system in the four steps described earlier is the simplest possible case of extra-virgin olive oil traceability. Any mixing operation of olives and oils from differentbatches determines a change in the identity of the oil and introduces a risk of inter-rupting traceability. Oils can derive from olives of different producers or differentproducing areas. In industrial, large-scale, olive oil production, olive oils of differ-ent origin, obtained from different olive mills, are commonly blended in order toobtain a desirable composition and sensory characteristics. In these cases, the trac-ing of responsibilities may be extremely complex or even impossible. Similarly, thedistribution and marketing systems may include the participation of several actors:importers, wholesalers, supermarkets and retailers.

Traceability is much easier in short chains where only two or three subjects areresponsible for the whole chain ‘from the field to the consumer’s table’ (Peri 2007).

The case of refined olive oils is obviously very different. In this case, the ori-gin of the product is the refining factory and refined oils complying with the legalstandards are essentially the same even if produced by different companies. Trace-ability of inputs and outputs of refining factories are the only meaningful traceabilityrequirement of refined oils.

False claims have often been made in technical and scientific publications of reli-able analytical fingerprinting of the origin and history of the oil. In fact, true trace-ability can only result from careful, precise, timely recording of material balancesin the four steps described earlier. Analytical fingerprinting may be an effectivesupporting evidence of documented material balances. For this purpose, analyti-cal fingerprinting does not need to be based on complex or sophisticated analyticalmethods and procedures. If sound records of material balances are available, themost common and routine analytical values may provide certain evidence of theidentity of the batch.

References

Peri, C. (2007) Origin, method and prospects for short production chains. Gastro-nomic Sciences 1(07), 36–45.

Peri, C., Kicenik Devarenne, A. and Pinton, S. (2010) ‘3E Super-Premium Selec-tion for Extra-virgin Olive Oil’, presented at Beyond Extra-virgin an InternationalConference on excellence in olive oil, fourth edition, BEV IV, 20–22 September,Verona, Italy.

250 CH19 EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL TRACEABILITY

Further reading

Consorzio Nazionale degli Olivicoltori (2013) Traceability, Certification and Pro-tection of the Quality of Olive Oil, http://evoo.itchefs-gvci.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=608&Itemid=992 (accessed 11 October2013).

ISO 22005:2007 (2007) Traceability in the Feed and Food Chain – General Prin-ciples and Basic Requirements for System Design and Implementation, ISO,Geneva.

Peri, C. (2010) Strumenti gestionali e indicatori molecolari per la tracciabilità difiliera dei prodotti alimentari, Academy of Georgofili, Florence.