A cautionary tale from a recent news clipping - be sure you are getting what you are paying for!
Perhaps this is more reason to consider ordering EVOO from the FB store ...
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400 cops smash fake olive-oil ring in Italy
ROME -- Italian police arrested 23 people yesterday and seized 85 farms in an operation that exposed the scale of the trade in fraudulent olive oil.
More than 400 officers took part in Operation Golden Oil following an investigation into the thriving illegal business that involves importing low quality oil from around the Mediterranean and packaging it as Italian.
Other ploys include labelling inferior oil as extra-virgin and claiming EU subsidies for growing olives in Italy that are, in fact, imported. Police found bogus invoices to the EU for $10 million, as well as receipts for $60 million of "Italian" oil made with non-Italian olives.
Coldiretti, the farmers' union, claimed that the illegal trade grew by a quarter last year. A spokesman said: "Almost half the 'Italian' oil sold inside Italy is pressed from olives of an unknown provenance."
Italian olive production fell by 15 per cent last year, and the country does not produce enough to feed its domestic market.
Many olive oils sold in Britain are "blended" from a variety of oils before being sold as Italian extra-virgin.
Italian Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro said: "We are ever more sensitive to this type of fraud and we will keep monitoring the entire production line.
"For example, we are now insisting on proper labels, which are more detailed than required by European law."
De Castro recently revealed the government had investigated 787 producers and found that 205 were guilty of falsely labelling their bottles or adulterating their products with low-grade oils.
Perhaps this is more reason to consider ordering EVOO from the FB store ...
- - -
400 cops smash fake olive-oil ring in Italy
ROME -- Italian police arrested 23 people yesterday and seized 85 farms in an operation that exposed the scale of the trade in fraudulent olive oil.
More than 400 officers took part in Operation Golden Oil following an investigation into the thriving illegal business that involves importing low quality oil from around the Mediterranean and packaging it as Italian.
Other ploys include labelling inferior oil as extra-virgin and claiming EU subsidies for growing olives in Italy that are, in fact, imported. Police found bogus invoices to the EU for $10 million, as well as receipts for $60 million of "Italian" oil made with non-Italian olives.
Coldiretti, the farmers' union, claimed that the illegal trade grew by a quarter last year. A spokesman said: "Almost half the 'Italian' oil sold inside Italy is pressed from olives of an unknown provenance."
Italian olive production fell by 15 per cent last year, and the country does not produce enough to feed its domestic market.
Many olive oils sold in Britain are "blended" from a variety of oils before being sold as Italian extra-virgin.
Italian Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro said: "We are ever more sensitive to this type of fraud and we will keep monitoring the entire production line.
"For example, we are now insisting on proper labels, which are more detailed than required by European law."
De Castro recently revealed the government had investigated 787 producers and found that 205 were guilty of falsely labelling their bottles or adulterating their products with low-grade oils.
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