An olive oil label looks simple: a name, a bottle, a price. But almost every word on it is regulated by law, and some you might find there are forbidden. Knowing these rules is the quickest way to understand what you are buying.

The rules that apply

  • Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104: the marketing standards for olive oil — categories, mandatory and optional wording, origin. Since 2022 it has replaced the old Regulations (EEC) 2568/91 and (EU) 29/2012.
  • Regulation (EU) 1169/2011: the general rules on food information to consumers that apply to all foods, such as quantity, best-before date, nutrition declaration and the business responsible for the label.
  • Regulation (EU) 2024/1143: geographical indications, i.e. PDO and PGI.
  • Italian Law 9/2013, known as the “salva olio” law, with later amendments: some additional rules for oil sold and served in Italy.

What must be there

  • The name and the category statement. For extra virgin oil the law requires, besides the name, the statement “superior category olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means”. If it is missing, the label is not compliant.
  • The origin, mandatory for extra virgin and virgin oils. It is the country where the olives were harvested and milled: “Italy”, “Spain”, or, for blends, “blend of olive oils of European Union origin”, “not of European Union origin” or both. If the olives are harvested in one country and milled in another, the label must say so.
  • Storage conditions: for example “store away from light and heat”.
  • The best-before date (“best before…”). In Italy until 2016 the law limited it to 18 months from bottling; today it is set by the packer, under their own responsibility.
  • The information common to every food: quantity, lot, name and address of the responsible business, nutrition declaration.
  • A closure that breaks on first opening. Oil sold to consumers must be in containers of up to 5 litres (Member States may allow larger sizes for canteens and catering) with a cap that loses its integrity when opened.

What can be written, but only under certain conditions

  • “Cold extraction”: only for oils obtained below 27 °C by percolation or centrifugation of the olive paste, i.e. in modern mills.
  • “First cold pressing”: only for oils obtained below 27 °C from the first mechanical pressing in traditional hydraulic presses. It is rarely seen today, because most mills work by centrifugation.
  • The harvest year (crop year, or month and year): only if 100% of the oil comes from that harvest. A blend of two harvests cannot state either.
  • Organoleptic characteristics, such as “intense fruity”, “bitter”, “pungent”: only if based on the official assessment of a tasting panel and using the terms set out in the regulation.
  • Acidity: anyone stating it must give the maximum value expected at the best-before date and, next to it, in characters of the same size, also the peroxide value, the wax content and the ultraviolet absorption. Writing only “acidity 0.2%” to look better is not allowed.
  • References to a region or an area smaller than a country: these are reserved for PDO and PGI oils, which follow a product specification and are checked by an independent body.

What is not allowed

  • Names, images and flags that suggest an origin other than the real one.
  • Names of regions, hills or towns on an oil that is not PDO or PGI.
  • Wording such as “cold pressed” or “first pressing” used without meeting the legal conditions.
  • Health claims other than those authorised in Europe: we cover this in Extra virgin olive oil, care and wellbeing.

Rules that apply only in Italy

  • In restaurants, virgin and extra virgin oil put on the table must be served in labelled containers, with a cap that cannot be refilled once the original contents are finished (the “anti-refill cap”). This does not apply to oil used in the kitchen.
  • Origin statements must be clearly visible and legible, not hidden in a corner of the label.
  • Controls: movements of oil are recorded in a national electronic register, and the fraud repression inspectorate (ICQRF) checks analyses, panel tests and documents.

How to protect yourself from labels that promise too much

  • Look for the category statement and the origin: if they are not there, walk away.
  • Prefer an oil that states the harvest year: it means it is not a blend of different harvests.
  • Be wary of an “Italian” extra virgin that costs less than the olives needed to make it: as a rule, one litre of oil takes between 5 and 10 kg of olives.
  • Buy from the people who make the oil and put their name to it. On Olivum every product carries the name of the producer selling it, and our editors can ask for the documents behind any declared certification (organic, PDO, PGI) before putting it on sale.

This article summarises the rules in force in October 2026 and is not a substitute for professional advice. Producers and packers of olive oil should refer to the official texts on EUR-Lex and in the Italian Official Gazette.