Dr Hans-Jochen Fiebig, the Deputy Director of the Institut fuer Chemie und Physik der Fette at the Bundesanstalt fuer Getreide, Kartoffel und Fettforschung in Muenster recently asked the IOOC for its assistance in arranging an introductory course on the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil. His approaching the IOOC was prompted by calls from a number of analysts at official German laboratories for training in recognising defects in, and grades of, virgin olive oils. This joint Institute/IOOC collaboration lived up to the expectations of the participant analysts. The point of their attending was to learn the correct application of the EC regulation on the characteristics of olive oils. This regulation stipulates (article 2, paragraph 2) that the organoleptic characteristics have to be evaluated by an analyst according to the procedure described in the tasting notes referred to in Annex Ⅻ. When the analysis shows that those characteristics do not correspond to the oil's grade that is when the product has to be assessed by a panel of tasters. Muenster went off well. Since one of the IOOC's tasks is to provide training and support to help ensure that its approved analytical methods are applied uniformly it could capitalise on this positive experience and organise similar courses requested by other testing laboratories.
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