Daily Archives: February 13, 2016

Aim to tackle growing threat from fake products Italian olive oil farming associations have developed a label that national producers of extra virgin olive oil can display on bottles to show that they are 100% Italian, aiming to fight a growing threat from fake foreign-sourced products.

Fraudulent oil is estimated to cost the sector 1.5 billion euros per year. Last week Italian police said they had discovered a network of oil producers that sold 2,000 tons of Greek and Spanish oil in 2014 and 2015 as fully Italian, the latest in a string of similar cases in recent years.

“Quality extra virgin olive oil is the jewel in the crown of our agriculture,” Dino Scanavino, president of Italian farming association Cia, told a news conference.

“Olive oil pays a price beyond measure for a reputation threatened by instances of fraud and adulteration,” he said.

The farming groups said the labeling project aimed to highlight bottles of Italian olive oil that met a list of specific conditions.

Source