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<pre>Re olive oil testing

Purity tests must be met
Quality tests = Free fatty acid, Peroxide, UV and organoleptic.

Regarding the testing - Fruitiness and defects are scored. Panel tasters
do not judge oilsthey score then median claues are taken.

Regarding Australian Panels

All would have to meet IOOC requirements. Panels can be set up by
agencies or private groups. The IOOC have published the world list of
panels and labs. I am not sure if the AOA has a panel if this would be a
conflict of interest??

My view is that if a country produces olive oil for international sale
and is labelled EVO, it must meet the prescribed trade standards.
Different rules may prevail for internal consumption, but these need to
be thought out clearly.

With Australia - there is going to be a need for at least three panels,
to ensure that at least one is functional at any one time. Panels need
annual testing and training.

Judging oils like wines is a different story. I would expect that the
IOOC requirements would be baseline requirements unless there is a
justifiable reason. The IOOC have addressed this with the Solinas awards
where further sensory characters are evaluated by and expert expert!!!
panel is involved.

Hope this adds to the discussion.

I hope to have tidied up the notes of my olive tasters school within 4-6
weeks. These will be available to purchase - Price ???? watch this
space.
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