Can GMOs Be Used in Organic Products?

The short answer is "NO"!

None of our extra virgin olive oils contain GMOs.

Ozelia Family Orchards and processing facilities are USDA Organic (NOP) certified. Our orchards and facilities are audited by a USDA accredited international auditing firm EcoCert.

According to USDA ;

"The use of genetic engineering, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is prohibited in organic products. This means an organic farmer can’t plant GMO seeds, an organic cow can’t eat GMO or corn, and an organic soup producer can’t use any GMO ingredients. To meet the USDA organic regulations, farmers and processors must show they aren’t using GMOs and that they are protecting their products from contact with prohibited substances, such as GMOs, from farm to table."

In other words, when you buy a bottle of USDA Organic Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it is "Certified" Non-GMO.

This does not mean that the non-organic extra virgin olive oils we sell contain GMOs. Unlike some other crops, olive trees or olive farming does not involve any GMOs. Therefore olive oil, in general, is a very safe product. In the Mediterranean basin, olive orchards are traditionally established and operated using local varieties. Thanks to our traceability platform, we know the orchard and olive variety every single EVOO batch was produced from. The orchards where our olives harvested from are established and operated by traditional agricultural methods. The olive trees are planted several decades, sometimes centuries ago! So if our traceability system tells me that the olive oil is obtained a traditional/local variety and orchard, there is no way it be a GMO since none of them contain GMO seeds or variants. So by definition, all of them are non-GMO. However, most small farmers we work with cannot afford the certification.

For more information please review this article published on USDA web site.

web site.