IOC Updates Olive Oil Standard So Authentic Low-Sterol Oils Aren’t Flagged as Fake

The International Olive Council (IOC) has revised its official trade standard so that authentic extra virgin olive oils from three specific cultivars are no longer wrongly flagged as adulterated because of naturally low sterol levels, according to an update confirmed on August 3, 2026. Under the revised standard, known as COI/T.15/NC No. 3/Rev. 22, monovarietal extra virgin olive oil made purely from Coratina, Koroneiki, or Nocellara del Belice olives can now legally test as low as 800 milligrams of total sterols per kilogram, below the 1,000-milligram general minimum that applies to virgin olive oil worldwide.

What Changed in the Testing Standard

Sterols are natural compounds inside olive oil that laboratories measure to help check whether an oil is genuine or has been diluted with cheaper oils. For most olive oils, a total sterol reading below 1,000 milligrams per kilogram would normally raise a flag for possible adulteration. But research has shown that oils made purely from Coratina, an Italian cultivar grown mainly in Puglia, along with the Greek Koroneiki and the Sicilian Nocellara del Belice, can legitimately fall below that number without any tampering at all. Until now, only Koroneiki and Nocellara del Belice carried this exception; the new revision extends the same protection to Coratina. Unlike an earlier European Commission proposal from January 2026 that would have let the exception expire at the end of the 2026/27 crop year, the IOC’s version carries no expiration date. Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and grower groups including Confagricoltura, Unapol, and CIA-Agricoltori Italiani welcomed the change, framing it as recognition that a cultivar’s natural chemistry, not fraud, explained the low readings.

Why This Matters Beyond Italy

The IOC is also asking laboratories to develop additional verification tests, including the ratio between free and esterified sterols, the ratio between free acidity and diacylglycerols, and total phenol content, so a decision tree can confirm that an oil labeled Coratina, Koroneiki, or Nocellara del Belice is genuinely made from that variety before it qualifies for the lower threshold. For buyers anywhere in the world, the update is a reminder that a single lab number rarely tells the whole authenticity story on its own; varietal identity, harvest documentation, and multiple test parameters together give a far more reliable picture. Tunisia’s own signature cultivars, Chemlali, Chetoui, and Oueslati, are not among the three covered by this exception, so buyers should expect authentic Tunisian extra virgin olive oil to test within the general 1,000-milligram range; if a shipment tests noticeably lower, that’s a cue to request supporting lab and origin documentation from the supplier rather than assume the same exception applies.

FAQ

What is total sterol content and why does it matter in olive oil? Total sterol content is a measurement of natural fat-like compounds in olive oil that laboratories use as one of several checks for authenticity; a reading far below the accepted minimum can indicate that an oil has been diluted with cheaper oils, though a small number of cultivars are naturally lower without being fraudulent.

Does the new IOC sterol exception apply to Tunisian olive oil? No. The exception only covers monovarietal extra virgin olive oil made purely from Coratina, Koroneiki, or Nocellara del Belice; Tunisia’s major cultivars, Chemlali, Chetoui, and Oueslati, are expected to meet the general 1,000-milligram-per-kilogram minimum, so buyers can still use standard sterol testing as one authenticity check for Tunisian oil.

Source: Olive Oil Times