The oil itself

Grades, and the number behind extra virgin

Updated October 2026

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The grades, and their free fatty acid limits The sensory half is unusual and it is real Virgin means mechanical, with no additives They are voluntary, and they do not displace anything If you are buying rather than pressing Free fatty acid is not the same as how it tastes References

Extra virgin is not a marketing word. It is a grade with two tests behind it, one chemical and one carried out by trained tasters, and a product has to pass both.

The grades, and their free fatty acid limits

U.S. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: free fatty acid as oleic acid of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams, with a median of defects equal to zero and a median of fruitiness greater than zero.
U.S. Virgin Olive Oil: not more than 2.0 grams per 100 grams, median of defects between zero and 2.5.
U.S. Olive Oil, a blend of refined and virgin oils: not more than 1.0 gram per 100 grams.
U.S. Refined Olive Oil: not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams, and flavorless and odorless.

The sensory half is unusual and it is real

Nothing else in this library is graded partly by a panel of people tasting it. Extra virgin requires a median of defects of exactly zero, which means a single recognized defect at the median disqualifies it however good the chemistry is. That is a stricter structure than a threshold, and it is why a chemically clean oil can still fail the grade.

Virgin means mechanical, with no additives

The standards define virgin olive oils as obtained from the fruit solely by mechanical or other physical means, under conditions that do not alter the oil, with no additives of any kind permitted. An oil that has been treated beyond washing, decanting, centrifuging and filtering is not a virgin oil regardless of how it tastes.

They are voluntary, and they do not displace anything

These are voluntary United States grade standards issued under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, effective October 25, 2010, replacing a first issue that had stood since 1948. The standards say plainly that complying with them does not excuse failing to comply with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or with state law.

If you are buying rather than pressing

Then the grade is a claim about somebody else’s product that you are repeating on your own label. Get it in writing from the supplier with the lot it applies to, because the claim will be read as yours.

Free fatty acid is not the same as how it tastes

It is a chemical measure of one kind of breakdown, and an oil can be low in free fatty acid and still taste oxidized, which is the other kind. That is precisely why the extra virgin grade carries a sensory requirement alongside the number: neither test alone describes the oil, and a supplier quoting only the chemistry is quoting half of it.

References

United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil, 7 CFR 52.1531 to 52.1542, published at 75 FR 22363 and effective October 25, 2010. Voluntary standards issued under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. ams.usda.gov

Written from federal regulation, voluntary USDA grade standards, FDA labeling policy and published extension guidance, not from a laboratory. The infused-oil pages describe a real botulism hazard and are a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture and a process authority, not a determination that any method you use is safe.