Olive Oil Labels: Extra Virgin Grades, Harvest Date and Origin
An olive oil bottle packs a lot onto a small label: a grade, an origin line, a harvest code, a use-by date, a row of seals and a Nutrition Facts panel. Some of those words come from a USDA standard. Others are the brand’s own. This guide goes through each part of the label and says which is which. Our worked example is the one olive oil we carry, California Olive Ranch 100% California Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If you are deciding between olive oil and avocado oil in the first place, start with our olive oil vs avocado oil comparison.
How we wrote this: the label details come from the 750 mL (25.4 fl oz) glass bottle as photographed on Open Food Facts, product 0850687110512 (user submitted photos dated June and August 2025, viewed in October 2026), checked against the California Olive Ranch product page. The product we list is the 1 L (33.8 fl oz) bottle of the same oil, so a few details, such as servings per container, will differ. The grade rules come from the USDA AMS United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil. We describe what the label and the standard say. We have not tested this oil, the label on your bottle may differ, and this is not diet or medical advice.
Step 1: The grade name
The front of the photographed bottle says “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”. In the United States, the reference for that wording is the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) grade standard for olive oil. Its second issue was published in the Federal Register on April 28, 2010 and took effect on October 25, 2010, replacing a first issue that had been in effect since 1948.
Two points about it:
- It is voluntary. USDA AMS says its grade standards are issued under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 and are available for producers, suppliers, buyers and consumers to use. A U.S. grade on a label is optional, and USDA does not require bottles to be graded.
- It names five grades of olive oil. Olive-pomace oils have their own separate grades, and the standard says olive-pomace oils shall not be labeled as olive oil.
Step 2: What each grade means
The USDA standard ranks the grades from extra virgin down. Here is what it says about each one, including its limit for free fatty acid, measured as oleic acid:
| USDA grade | What the standard says | Free fatty acid limit |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Excellent flavor and odor: a median of defects equal to zero and a median of fruitiness above zero | Not more than 0.8 g per 100 g |
| U.S. Virgin Olive Oil | Defect median from 0 to 2.5, fruitiness above zero | Not more than 2.0 g per 100 g |
| U.S. Virgin Olive Oil Not Fit For Human Consumption Without Further Processing (also called lampante) | Poor flavor; meant for refining or non-food use | Above 2.0 g per 100 g |
| U.S. Olive Oil | A blend of refined and virgin olive oils | Not more than 1.0 g per 100 g |
| U.S. Refined Olive Oil | Flavorless and odorless | Not more than 0.3 g per 100 g |
The flavor scores come from a panel of trained tasters. The standard lists defects the panel looks for, such as fusty, muddy sediment, musty, rancid and winey-vinegary. Extra virgin also has to meet the other chemical limits in the standard, not only the free fatty acid one.
The practical takeaway: “extra virgin olive oil”, “olive oil” and “refined olive oil” are different grades under the standard. A bottle that just says “olive oil” is, in USDA’s terms, a blend of refined and virgin oils.
Step 3: Processing words like “cold pressed”
The front of the photographed bottle also says “Cold Pressed”, and the brand page shows an “Always Certified Cold Pressed” badge. “Cold pressed” does not appear among the grade names in the USDA standard, so read it as the brand’s own description of how the oil is made.
The side panel describes the oil as a smooth, medium oil for everyday roasting, sautéing and finishing, and shows a “Medium Intensity” scale with two of three dots filled. Intensity is the brand’s flavor guide, not a USDA grade.
Step 4: Origin
Origin is where olive oil labels vary most. Check for a country or state of origin, and for who produced and bottled the oil. The photographed bottle says:
- “100% California” on the front
- “Product of California”
- “Produced and bottled by California Olive Ranch Inc., Chico, CA 95973”
- a “CA Grown” (California Grown) mark
The side panel says the oil comes from the brand’s ranches and a network of family farmers. We saw no imported-oil blend wording on this label. On other bottles, watch for several countries named, or a “bottled in” line that differs from where the olives grew.
Step 5: Harvest date, lot and use-by date
Dates on olive oil are printed per bottle, usually as an ink-jet code, so the ones below are only an example of where to look, not the dates on current stock. On the photographed bottle, the code under the barcode reads:
- “HY NOV-DEC 2024”: we read “HY” as harvest year or harvest period. The label does not spell the abbreviation out.
- Lot “C25051A 10:01”: the production lot and time.
- “USE BY AUG202026”: the date is a “use by”, not a “best by”.
A harvest date tells you when the olives were picked; a use-by or best-by date is the brand’s own date. The bottle also carries a QR code on the front lower label with the line “Learn more about this…” (partly cut off in the photo).
Step 6: Seals and certifications
The photographed label carries several seals. Each is a claim by the brand or by the body that runs the program, and we have not checked each program ourselves:
- an Olive Oil Commission of California (OOCC) member seal;
- a round “Certified Extra Virgin” seal from Applied Sensory, a sensory panel;
- Non-GMO Project Verified; see our Non-GMO Project Verified vs USDA Organic guide and the non-GMO pantry picks;
- an OU kosher symbol, plus Vegan, Certified Paleo and Keto Certified marks (see our keto and paleo staples);
- the CA Grown mark noted above.
The brand page lists the same set of badges. Note that the state seal on this bottle is OOCC membership; the USDA grade standard is a separate, federal reference.
Step 7: Ingredients and the Nutrition Facts panel
The ingredient list reads simply “Extra Virgin Olive Oil.” If other oils are listed, it is a blend.
The Nutrition Facts panel on the photographed bottle, per 1 tablespoon (15 mL) serving, says:
| Line | Amount | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 130 | |
| Total Fat | 14 g | 18% |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g | 10% |
| Trans Fat | 0 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1.5 g | |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 11 g | |
| Sodium | 0 mg | 0% |
| Total Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0% |
| Protein | 0 g |
The panel adds that the oil is not a significant source of cholesterol, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. The brand page shows the same fat figures. Servings per container depend on bottle size, so the count on a 750 mL bottle does not apply to the 1 L bottle we list. For how serving size and %DV work on any food, see how to read a Nutrition Facts label.
The brand page notes that package and nutrition information may vary slightly as products are updated, so check your package. The side panel also says “Store away from heat and light” and “Natural fruit sediment may occur”.
Quick checklist
- Grade: does it say extra virgin, or just “olive oil”?
- Origin: one place named, or a blend of countries? Who bottled it?
- Dates: is there a harvest date as well as a use-by or best-by date?
- Seals: which body runs each one?
- Ingredients: only extra virgin olive oil?
FAQ
Does USDA require a grade on olive oil?
No. The USDA AMS standard says its grade standards are voluntary.
What does “HY” mean on the date code?
We read it as harvest year or period. The California Olive Ranch label does not spell it out.
Is the label the same on the 1 L bottle?
We looked at photos of the 750 mL bottle. The oil and the per-serving panel are the same product, but servings per container differ, and dates are printed per bottle.
Where to go next
See the product page for California Olive Ranch 100% California EVOO, compare it with avocado oil in olive oil vs avocado oil, or read another pantry label in our apple cider vinegar label guide, our peanut butter label guide or our avocado oil label guide. To see olive oil as a packing liquid, read our canned sardine label guide.