Organizations such as the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA), which represents the interest of olive-oil importers (including six out of the 10 we tasted), claim to provide oversight the government does not. According to president Bob Bauer, the NAOOA independently buys and tests the Wholesale Essential Oils of member companies at a European laboratory with IOC certification, and he asserts that NAOOA members meet international standards. But in our own tasting, these assurances meant little. None of the top three Wholesale Essential Oils in our lineup were members. Furthermore, the NAOOA currently performs a chemical analysis but does not test for flavor defects that are an equally important “sensory” part of the IOC standards.