Have you ever heard of food fraud? Well, as its name suggests, it is a practice in which products do not comply with certain marketing or production standards. For example, that they do not contain the ingredients that they should, that the labeling does not give the correct information about their origin and provenance ... This, beyond the fact that the quality of said product is compromised, can sometimes be a risk to our health . That is why, more and more, they are being investigated. In this article we will talk about the olive oil fraud, one of the most common deceptions in the gastronomic sector.
European investigations and their conclusions
The question is, why the olive oil? Well, the answer is simple: extra virgin olive oil has a high economic value which puts you in the crosshairs of fraud. According to the American media Olive oli times, “Together with other food products, such as fish, milk, meat, cereals, honey, coffee, wine and spices, olive oil is usually the subject of various illegal practices in the European Union. "
That is why from the Oleum program of the European Commission, a group of researchers has analyzed data from the Joint Research Center (JRC) -Joint Research Center (JRC), in English-, and other organizations specialized in this type of practice such as the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed -RASFF, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed-.
The results obtained from an exhaustive analysis of data and surveys were not positive. Moreover, they revealed that between September 2016 and December 2019, the ITC confirmed a total of 32 cases of fraud in olive oil. This data is accompanied by a clarification: there were more registered cases than real fraud, since an incident may have breached two categories at the same time.
But the most alarming thing is not that; but from that total, 20 they took place on the European continent. The truth is that they did not specify if any of them came from Spainto; However, being today the country with the highest production - and export - of olive oil, the possibility exists. Let's see what the reasons for fraud.
What kind of incidents can there be?
Referring to the study carried out by European researchers, the incidents in relation to the olive oil fraud they can be several. To begin with, 16 stated that the olive oil had been replaced by other varieties of oil. On the other hand, 11 cases had a mislabeling; in another six they had mixed olive oil with other lower quality oils. Five incidents indicated that a distribution of counterfeit oil and, in four others, the geographic indicator. And finally, one case alluded to a robbery.
Enrico Valli is a researcher in the department of agricultural and food sciences of the University of Bologna. He stated for Olive Oil Times that these data indicate that “it is still necessary improve controls in compliance, reduce instances of disagreement in ratings, develop improved robust analytical methods and support screening tools ”, in order to ensure quality and end fraud.
Fraud cases in olive oil
It is clear that these practices are the order of the day. A clear example that resonated in his day is that of Fake EVOO in Palermo (Italy). In 2019, what appeared to be two tons of product was intercepted in the Italian region. However, as explained by the National Union of Olive Oil Producers (UNAPROL), what was found was actually olive oil edible lampante, and not extra virgin as the label promised. Italy is one of those countries that has been most affected by this type of scams, having increased by almost one 90% in the last decade.
As you have seen, this bad practice it is more common than we might think at first. Usually these olive oil fraud affect quality of the product and not to our health, but it is something that must be eradicated. That is why there are more and more controls and verification systems; for this liquid gold Reach consumers as honestly as possible.
