Wine Country Times

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) has received unanimous support for her bill that aims to ensure truthful advertising from the olive oil industry regarding the origins of their product, specifically when California is cited as the source.

The proposed legislation strengthens the quality of the California olive oil brand by establishing clear labeling and marketing guidelines on when the state’s name can be used on a bottle of olive oil, according to a release from Aguiar-Curry’s office. The updated law would make it illegal to falsely represent that an olive oil was produced entirely from California-grown olives when it actually came from other areas. Due to an increased demand for California olive oil, many olive oil companies have been profiting off the state by falsely claiming their products come from California.

“AB 535 passed committee,” Aguiar-Curry said in an April 14 Twitter post. “If a bottle's labeled ‘California oil’, that's what it needs to be: 100% CA olive oil.”

As outlined on the California Legislative website, the bill requires that at least 85% of olive oil must be produced from olives grown in a specific California region in order for companies to indicate that the oil was grown in that specific region.

“Consumers should know what they're getting and we're supporting farmers producing world-class oils from olives grown in CA,” Aguiar-Curry tweeted.

Following the bill’s passage by the Assembly Health Committee, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), a California-based nonprofit which serves as an advocate for sustainable food and farming systems, expressed their support.

“Thanks for your leadership @AsmAguiarCurry,” CAFF tweeted on April 14. “Californians want to know they are buying olive oil from local growers.”

The olive oil labeling bill was introduced by Aguiar-Curry on Feb. 10 and was revised on April 13.