The Old-School Deli Meat You Don't See Anyone Eat Anymore

When you think of deli meat, bologna is likely the variety that comes to mind first. Bologna was the deli meat of choice since the early 20th century, after immigrant German butchers brought their sausage-making skills to American shores. By the 1950s, pre-sliced and packaged deli meat was hailed as a time-saving invention for "homemakers," and bologna sandwiches were packed into millions of lunch boxes and bags. Then, in 1970s, Oscar Mayer had success with its vacuum sealed-packaging, and it began selling as much bologna as it did hot dogs with its famous jingle. At the same time, Oscar Meyer introduced a line of various deli meats – one of which was olive loaf: a bologna-like sausage studded with sliced pimento-stuffed olives.

Olive loaf had a significantly more appetizing appearance than several other Oscar Meyer deli meats — the bar-b-que loaf, picnic loaf, and head cheese, which resembled cobbled-and-glued together chunks of not-quite recognizable meats, in particular. Bejeweled with flecks of red and green, olive loaf had a Mediterranean flare that looked and tasted more elegant than other deli meats, and it was often served as toothpick-speared cubes for an hors d'oeuvre. But despite its fans, olive loaf never really achieved bologna's popularity, although it does make an amusing cameo in a scene from the 1985 film "The Breakfast Club." Like bologna, olive loaf was an ultra-processed food, and as low-fat diets took hold in the 1990s, it gradually fell out of favor.

Olive loaf is often compared to mortadella – but they couldn't be more different. Mortadella dates back to the Middle Ages in Bologna, Italy, and its production hasn't changed much since. Lean cuts of pork are ground until smooth, and spices, black peppercorns, oftentimes pistachios, and chunks of pig's cheek fat are mixed in before the sausage is cooked and cured. Olive loaf is basically a more processed, American-style of bologna. Olive loaf is made from meat trimmings — usually a combination of pork, beef, turkey or chicken — and fat that's processed into a smooth paste and stuffed into a casing. Whereas traditional mortadella has no artificial ingredients, bologna — and thus, olive loaf — is rather infamously preserved with sodium nitrate. 

Linked to heart issues and diabetes, increasingly health-conscious consumers became aware of the possible risks in eating nitrate-loaded meats. Since olive loaf is simply bologna with olives, people began to seek alternatives. While bologna did manage to make a bit of a comeback with many bologna sandwiches getting luxurious upgrades, olive loaf hasn't followed suit. Oscar Meyer revealed that it was discontinued in a comment on Facebook in 2025. Other brands of olive loaf may be available, but sadly, you'll be hard-pressed to find them. For example, Boar's Head also sold olive loaf — and although on Facebook the company claimed to be striving to restock stores in 2025, it's no longer on the website's product page.