“There have been a lot of questions over the last few years about the quality and purity of olive oil,” says Charles Parrott, acting deputy administrator for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), in a USDA Blog dated April 3, 2012. Therefore, USDA has expanded its Quality Monitoring Program to include extra virgin and organic extra virgin olive oil. With this new coverage, AMS has awarded the Quality Monitoring Product logo for the first time to an olive oil manufacturer.
Pompeian, Inc. (Baltimore, MD) received the USDA Quality Monitoring Program verification, which verifies the purity and quality of olive oil through rigorous USDA product testing and review of production processes. Upon entering the voluntary USDA program for olive oil, processors agree to allow USDA to conduct unannounced visits to review and inspect quality assurance records, test product samples and verify labels on an ongoing basis.