Extra Virgin Olive Oil is really a very precious commodity and can only be found in 10% of the world’s production. The consumer would not be aware of this fact because when visiting the grocery store, all they see are shelves labeled with olive oils that are so called “extra virgin”. We’d like to give you some more information on this subject so that you can make some educated and informed decisions when purchasing this most important item for your family which can be considered as “the healthiest food on the planet”!
FRAUDULENT AND COUNTERFEIT OIL
“Real Food, Fake Food” by Larry Olmstead (NY Times bestseller), July 2016.
“Since extra-virgin olive oil is the most valuable oil category in the United States, shady producers and dealers have plenty of incentive to mess with it in hopes of reaping more profit. They defraud consumers in three main ways:
- diluting real extra virgin olive oil with less expensive oils, like soybean or sunflower oil;
- diluting high-quality olive oil with low-quality olive oil; or
- making low-quality extra-virgin olive oil, "typically incorporating older—and often rancid—stocks of oil held over from bumper crops of previous seasons," writes Olmsted.
National Consumer League - released a study last year that found 6 of 11 bottles of EVO from 4 major retailers - Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Giant failed to meet extra virgin olive oil criteria.
UC Davis Olive Oil Center - Denise Johnson, July 2010.
“Report: Most Imported Extra Virgin Olive Oils Aren’t Extra Virgin” (i.e. 69% of imported and 10% California extra virgins)
U.S. International Trade Commission - “International standards for extra virgin olive oil are mostly unenforced. Although the term “extra virgin” is generally understood to denote the highest quality olive oil, industry representatives report that the current standards are easily met by producers and allow olive oil marketed as “extra virgin” to represent a wide range of qualities. This lack of enforcement has resulted in a long history of fraudulent practices (adulteration and mislabeling) in the olive oil sector”. “The Scam of Olive Oil And It’s Antidote”, Forbes, March 2014
Other articles;
- “Extra Virgin Suicide: The Adulteration of Italian Olive Oil”, NY Times, Nicholas Blechman, 2014. “Italian Prosecutor Accuses Seven Brands of Fraud”, Olive Oil Times, November 2015.
- “60 Minutes” January 2016.
- “Olive Oil Fraud; What Really is in the Bottle in your Kitchen?” by Whitney Fillon, Eater.com, February 2016.
- “The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% is False, Why do you Keep Buying it?” by Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes-Lifestyle, February 2016. (Addicted to low prices)
- “Italy Moves to Toughen Penalties for Olive Oil Fraud”, N.Y. Times, March 2016.
- “That Olive Oil You’re Cooking With? It’s Probably Fake!” Time.com/Money, May 2016.
- “Olive Oil Scandal Uncovered in France”, 120 Tons of Spanish Olives were Milled in Provence and sold with the Prestigious ADP Labels of the Region. August 2016.
- “Your Olive Oil Almost Certainly Fake” by Maddie Oatman, Mother Jones, August 2016.
- “Extra Virginity” by Tom Mueller