June 187, 2025-“Extra virgin olive oil adulteration, whether by mixing with lower-quality olive oils like ‘virgin’ oil or with other vegetable oils, is a form of consumer deception and negatively impacts the reputation of producers,” Hicham Zaroual told Olive Oil Times.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/11/world-news/italian-cops-uncover-phony-olive-oil-conspiracy-in-raids-that-find-71-tons-and-extra-virgin-packages-worth-1m/
Extra virgin olive oil is getting very expensive. And it
might not even be real
Olive oil has been a staple of the Mediterranean diet and
culture for millennia. Before it ever made it to the table, it was used for
medicinal and religious practices, earning the moniker “liquid gold” in Homer’s
“Iliad.”
Throughout the centuries the olive branch has come to
symbolize peace and prosperity, and pungent extra virgin and virgin olive oils
are high-value global exports. Valued at $22.3 billion in 2022, the olive
oil market is expected to increase exponentially over the next decade.
But behind the most popular extra virgin olive oils in the
world - produced in Italy, Spain and Greece - are equally lucrative criminal
enterprises cashing in on the gold rush by selling fake liquid gold that uses sunflower, canola or
even lamp oil to create a product that can retail for up to $30 a liter
in the United States.
In late November, authorities in Spain and Italy working
with the EU’s Europol law enforcement agency said they arrested 11 people tied
to one such criminal gang, sequestering 12 barrels containing some 260,000
liters of adulterated, or non-virgin or extra-virgin olive oil.
They also seized an additional 5,200 liters of market-ready
quality oil that had been ready for export. The authorities said it was “unfit
for consumption,” despite false labeling that claimed the oil was 100% Italian
or Spanish.
Authorities also found 91,000 euros (almost $100,000) in
cash, four high-end vehicles, falsified labels, and paperwork that stated the
oil was Spanish and Italian-grown when sample tests revealed it was more likely
made by mixing olive oil byproducts with other types of oil.
Demand for olive oil and recent struggling harvests have led
to sharp increases in the price of olive oil. - Budrul Chukrut/SOPA
Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Rising demand
“A mix of various factors, such as the general inflation of
prices, reduced olive oil production and increasing demand, have created the
perfect breeding ground for fraudulent producers,” according to a Europol statement.
“Unfortunately,
the faking of extra virgin olive oil is a common practice, which is why the
fight against it is a law enforcement priority — especially in production
countries,” the law enforcement agency added.
Infusing high quality olive oil with lesser products has
become a common practice as rising demand for Mediterranean oil exports is
countered by lower production rates driven by increasingly harsh weather
extremes, says Coldiretti, Italy’s main farming organization.
Fraudsters have also increasingly been using chlorophyll or
beta carotene to color the oil its characteristic green or buttery yellow hues.
In 2023, Mediterranean oil production was down by 41%,
Coldiretti said. An extremely wet spring meant olive trees flowered less and
record-setting heat in summer shriveled the olives that did grow.
That’s left producers unable to meet marketplace demand.
The
so-called “agri mafia” in the Mediterranean oil producing regions has been
moving in to fill the gaps in supply, developing its fake extra virgin olive
oil operations.
“Mixing consumer-grade olive oil with lower grade
alternatives allowed the criminals to offer competitive prices while entering
legal supply chains,” Europol says.
“This illegal practice can not only cause a public health
risk, but also undermine consumer trust and thus have further economic
repercussions,” the statement warned.
According to the North American Olive Oil Association, it’s
highly unlikely bogus olive oil products would go on sale in the US, with
research by the Food and Drug Administration finding no adulteration in samples
tested.
“In reality, US consumers should have a high level of
confidence in the quality and authenticity of the olive oil they buy,” said
Joseph R. Profaci, the NAOOA’s executive director.
Profaci said the NAOOA was undertaking its most comprehensive, rigorous olive oil testing study to
date to ensure adulterated products weren’t infiltrating US markets.
“While our routine testing hasn’t indicated any rise in
intentionally mislabeled or adulterated olive oil in 2023, the current high
prices and tight supplies may create an additional incentive for wrongdoing. We
hope this study will deter such conduct, and at the same time, give olive oil
consumers the assurances that they deserve.”
