Italy Tightens Rules on Blends Sold as Extra Virgin Olive Oil

With a new interpretation of existing rules, the Italian government has sent shockwaves through the olive oil market by drawing a new boundary around the extra virgin category.

The measures announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests are intended to preserve extra virgin olive oil as a high-quality product.

A ministerial circular prohibits the sale in Italy of products labeled as extra virgin olive oil when they are made by blending extra virgin olive oil with lower-grade virgin olive oil.

Under the new interpretation, such blends cannot be marketed as extra virgin even when they meet the chemical and sensory requirements established under Italian and European law.

Because some of their components originated as lower-grade oil, the blends must instead be classified and labeled as virgin olive oil.

Blending virgin and extra virgin olive oils had previously been considered permissible under the prevailing interpretation because European Union regulations do not explicitly prohibit the practice.

The ministry argued that selling such blends as extra virgin could mislead consumers. However, the circular acknowledges that the existing regulatory framework does not expressly prohibit the practice.

According to the trade standard of the International Olive Council, virgin olive oils are obtained from olives solely by mechanical or other physical means.

They may undergo no treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.

Extra virgin olive oil must have free acidity of no more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams and comply with a range of other physicochemical and organoleptic requirements.

Virgin olive oil, by comparison, may have free acidity of up to 2 grams per 100 grams and is subject to different organoleptic requirements.

Free acidity is a key chemical parameter used to determine olive oil quality and classification.

It measures the percentage of free fatty acids, primarily oleic acid, released when triglycerides break down because of fruit damage, pest attacks, delayed milling or other factors.

Although free acidity cannot be detected on the palate, lower levels are generally associated with sound fruit and careful handling and processing.

The issue raised by the Italian initiative is not new in Europe.

In January, the European Court of Auditors said E.U. rules governing olive oil controls were not always clear.

The court specifically called on the European Commission to clarify the rules governing blends of virgin olive oils from different harvest years or categories.

The Commission accepted the recommendation and committed to discussing the issue with experts and national authorities during 2026 to determine what form the clarification should take.

Major Italian farming organizations have backed the ministry’s decision.

“The publication of the circular is certainly welcome, as it brings order to a situation that was absurd to continue tolerating, where a lower-grade product was turned into a higher-category one,” David Granieri, president of Unaprol and vice president of Coldiretti, told Olive Oil Times.

“The real mystery is how a lower-grade product could be transformed into something else,” he added.

According to Granieri, the debate is intertwined with broader weaknesses in traceability, transparency and quality controls in the European olive oil market identified by the Court of Auditors.

Copagri also supports the principle behind the circular, although it has raised questions about its legal basis.

“Conceptually, I fully agree,” Tommaso Battista, president of the organization, told Olive Oil Times.

He said the measure could help strengthen efforts against adulteration and fraud.

“We know that in some settings, in certain mills, virgin oil can even be the result of blending lampante with virgin oil,” Battista said.

Lampante is a category of virgin olive oil that is unfit for direct human consumption and must be refined before it can be marketed for consumption.

Battista’s allegation concerned the fraudulent use of such oil in products subsequently sold under higher categories.

“Perhaps that’s a strong statement, but I can assure you that in some cases it happens,” he said. “And then, if this virgin oil, which already contains some lampante, gets blended with extra virgin, it might even become extra virgin. Clearly, this is unacceptable.”

Battista was describing practices that he said occur in some cases. He presented the claims as part of his argument in support of the circular’s underlying principle.

He noted that blending different extra virgin olive oils remains a normal and legitimate practice.

Such blends may be used, for example, to soften the sensory profile of particularly bitter or pungent monovarietal oils in response to consumer preferences.

At the same time, Battista said Copagri’s legal experts were examining whether the ministry’s interpretation could be applied under the existing regulatory framework.

“Some of our experts in the field have highlighted problems concerning its legal validity,” he said.

That uncertainty is at the center of the objections raised by the Italian olive oil industry.

Dora Desantis, president of the olive oil group at Assitol, the Italian edible oil industry association, said a ban on blends of virgin and extra virgin olive oil could legitimately be discussed.

However, she argued that any change should be made at the European rather than national level.

According to Desantis, European rules have long permitted the blending of virgin and extra virgin olive oils.

In a statement sent to Olive Oil Times, she said Italian authorities and European institutions had previously recognized the practice.

She added that the circular itself acknowledges that the prohibition is not contained in the existing regulatory framework.

For bottlers, the concern extends beyond the legal interpretation.

Desantis warned that introducing the restriction only in Italy could create different operating rules within the E.U. single market.

Operators in other member states could continue producing the blends under the rules applied in their countries, while Italian companies would be subject to a stricter interpretation.

Such a scenario, she concluded, “would translate into a competitive disadvantage for Italian companies, without having any real impact on market dynamics.”

The circular’s transitional provisions distinguish between bulk and pre-packaged olive oil.

Operators holding bulk blends of extra virgin and virgin olive oil in tanks before the circular took effect must reclassify the product as “virgin olive oil” in the official online registry within 30 days or before any further handling or processing.

An exemption applies to pre-packaged oil. Blends bottled and labeled as “extra virgin” before the circular took effect may remain on the market until existing inventories are exhausted.

Operators must also ensure that records in the digital olive oil registry reflect the new classification.

Failure to comply constitutes a violation of E.U. rules governing fair food information practices.

Non-compliance is subject to the administrative penalties established under Italian law for misleading food information, without prejudice to potential criminal liability.