High Hand Tomato Gathering

Join us for a fun filled evening at High Hand

Friday, August 20th.

Live entertainment, open bar and light hors d’oeuvres

begin at 5:30pm.

Dinner, live auction and entertainment

follow at 7:00pm.

Tickets are $45 advance / $65 at the door.

NOTE to Self: Stop by the ATM. Get $20. Spend during live auction.

Your Olive Oil May Not Be The Virgin It Claims

Enlarge iStockphoto.comTo be extra-virgin, olive oil can’t be doctored with lesser oils.

iStockphoto.comTo be extra-virgin, olive oil can’t be doctored with lesser oils.

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July 25, 2010 from KXJZ

The next time you reach for a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, beware. A new study from the University of California- Davis claims more than two-thirds of random samples of imported so-called extra-virgin olive oil don’t make the grade.

The Olive Oil Chemistry Lab overlooks many of the 2,000 olive trees on the Davis campus.

“It’s like we have our own CSI: Olive Oil lab here,” says chemist Charles Shoemaker, who manages the lab’s forensics.

To be extra-virgin, olive oil can’t be rancid or doctored with lesser oils. Shoemaker wasn’t all that surprised that many of the 14 major brands failed certain tests.

“It’s become a very sophisticated practice, the adulteration of olive oil throughout the world,” Shoemaker says. He says the lab can prove defects, degradation and dilution in olive oil beyond what human taste buds can figure out. The lab testing zeroes in on specific flaws.

“We do spectroscopic studies looking for oxidation,” he says. That means the oil’s old or spoiled. Shoemaker also tests fatty acids “to make sure the oil is all from olives and not from soybean, sunflower or other types of oil.”

See How Your Olive Oil Rates

The UC-Davis Olive Oil Report

No molecule can hide. Shoemaker revs up a small vacuum that removes solvents and isolates chlorophyll, which is always in oil made from green olives, but never in lesser-grade seed oil. As it sucks a sample, he’s patient.

“It takes about 25 minutes per sample to do just this one step,” he says.

The UC-Davis study was funded in part by the California Olive Oil Council. Oils were tested by some methods not yet recognized by international standards. For that reason, Bob Bauer of the North American Olive Oil Association, which represents importers, disputes the Davis study.

“It’s irresponsible to create the misperception that they’ve done based on unrecognized tests,” he says. “These results directly contradict our 20 years of more extensive sampling than what those results show.”

There’s never been a legal definition in the U.S. for any grade of olive oil, but mounting concern over truth-in-olive-oil-labeling has drawn in the USDA, and new American regulations will conform to international standards. Starting in October, olive oil from every olive oil-producing country, including America, will be subject to random sampling off retail shelves.

Gold Medal Winner

der fein 2010

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, standards for olive oil were published in the
USDA Federal Register. The standards will take effect October 24, 2010.

This is an historic achievement for the California olive oil industry as
well as consumers and retailers.

The petition, filed by the California Olive Oil Council in August 2005,
sought to set in place standards for grades of olive oil in the United
States, especially extra virgin. Heretofore, the absence of federal
standards allowed some unscrupulous importers to flood the US market with
mislabeled oils and misleading claims.

The standard will:

* Provide legal reference definitions for any government agency that takes
enforcement action against mislabeling

* Provide buyers in commerce with a common language of clearly defined US
grades of olive oil

* Serve notice to unscrupulous importers that the United States will no
longer be a haven for mislabeled low grades of olive oil or other oils
claiming to be olive oil

* Raise public awareness of the differences between extra virgin and other
grades of olive oil

* Inform the consumer by including taste (organoleptic) as well as chemical
testing requirements for olive oil

* Become the foundation on which an infrastructure of grading and testing
can be built

Special thanks to board members Bruce Golino and Tom Sloan, both on the COOC
standards committee. Tom spent hours crafting the text and preparing the
documents. Bruce has monitored this project tirelessly from inception acting
as liaison between the COOC and the USDA. Many thanks to all of our members
who supported the COOC in this endeavor writing letters and commenting to
the USDA during this lengthy period.

Congratulations to all! I am attaching a copy of the olive oil standard.

get your fresh produce and artisan products.  Town Center on Plumas Blvd. 8-12PM

Comments: i CHOSE MY PRODUCTS FOR THE CONTEST ON FACE BOOK #1 GLYSCERINE OLIVE OIL SOAP 2 3.0 OZ
#2 OLIVE OIL BODY EXFOLIANT 2

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS
SO MUCH AND I TELL ALL MY FRIENDS ABOUT YOU

Sukiyaki

This beautiful and delicious dish is a traditional meal in Japan.  We were fortunate enough

to have our good friend  Kaba prepare Sukiyaki for us, of course with Calolea Olive Oil.  We will be posting

the full recipe on our site very soon so you can prepare this simple and healthy meal for your friends and family.