HOW TO IDENTIFY A FRENCH OLIVE OIL


Olive oil, and moreover « regional » olive oil, is a recognized quality product with a very good image whose increasing notoriety for consumers has made it a product in demand but which often little known. There are nevertheless as many olive oils as wines in the diversity of its tastes and origins.

It is therefore very tempting for the many oil sellers set up in Provence, the main region of production for French olive oil, to benefit from the good image of olive oil from this region. Some are unscrupulous and deliberately remain vague with regards to the provenance of their olive oil.

But thanks to legislation, if he so wishes, the consumer can identify the French origin of an olive oil on the label. The term « origine française » means oil manufactured in France with French olives exclusively.



French provenance of the olive oil will be visible on the label in the mentions:

of an AOC or AOP (for example: AOC de Haute Provence, AOC Provence etc...)


or an appellation indicating the country of origin as a « French product » or « product of France » very often with the corresponding logo.


Where there is no indication of provenance on the label which must not be mistaken for the company name, it is highly probable that the oil being sold is an imported oil

 

I