Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Anna Wenzel, and Scripps college student, Rachael Hamilton (SCR ’16), conducted a chemical analysis of our 2013 olive oil for the LA Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. The results showed that the free fatty acid content of our olive oil was .3% and the peroxide value was 1 in milleq. peroxide oxygen per kg/oil.

According to the USDA standards for the grades of olive oil, the free fatty acid content needs to be equal to or below .8% and the peroxide value needs to be equal to or below 20. In Professor Wenzel’s words: “Scripps olive oil qualifies as US extra virgin by a large margin. Congrats!”