Posted on 10/20/2007 6:50:50 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
FRAUD. It's associated with identity theft and bouncing cheques, but apparently it is also rife in the olive oil industry.
Fake olive oil is an international issue, especially in Italy, the world's leading importer, consumer and exporter of olive oil.
Australia the largest consumer of olive oil per capita outside the Mediterranean is not immune.
Olive oil is more valuable than other vegetable oils, but is costly and time-consuming to produce. It is also easy to adulterate, or fake.
In February last year US federal officials seized about 61,000 litres of what was supposed to be extra-virgin olive oil and 26,000 litres of a lower-grade oil from a New Jersey warehouse. Some of the oil consisted almost entirely of soybean oil, which costs about one sixth of the price of olive oil.
It was destined for Krinos Foods, which blamed the fraud on its supplier, DMK Global Marketing, which in turn pointed the finger at the Italian bottlers from whom it had bought it. Officials destroyed the oil, but no criminal charges were brought.
A year earlier, the Italian special police broke up a criminal ring and confiscated 100,000 litres of fake olive oil, with a street value of about six million euros ($A8.9million).
The ring was accused of colouring soy and canola oil with industrial chlorophyll, flavouring it with beta-carotene and packaging it as extra virgin olive oil.
Throughout the early 1990s, the owner of olive oil supply company Riolio, Domenico Ribatti, made a large fortune by cutting olive oil with hazelnut and myriad oils.
He supplied the "dirty" oil to some of the largest producers of Italian olive oil, including Nestle, Bertoli and Unilever, who sold it to consumers as olive oil.
In 1997, adulterated olive oil was so prevalent the European Union's anti-fraud office established an olive-oil taskforce.
In April, Italian Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro announced its government had investigated 787 producers and found 206 were guilty of adulteration, false labelling, and other violations.
International regulations state that extra virgin olive oil must be obtained only from the olive, the stone fruit picked from trees.
The oil can be extracted using only mechanical or other physical means (by a press or a centrifuge) with no chemicals and in particular thermal conditions, which do not alter it in any way.
It must be free of defects and have acidity of 0.8 per cent or less, while virgin olive oil should have acidity of 2 per cent or less. It cannot contain oils obtained by the use of solvents nor be mixed with oils from other sources.
Australian Olive Association president Paul Miller said a "taste test" could sometimes reveal whether a bottle labelled as extra virgin was what it claimed to be.
"If you get a nice, fruity and fresh taste, then it's the real thing. If you don't get any taste, or if it tastes a bit fatty or off, then it's not."
It was difficult to determine how much of an issue olive oil fraud was in Australia.
"We've done some testing of imported and domestic labelled [extra virgin olive oil], using conventional tests because we know what's happening overseas.
"But we really don't know how much of a problem or if it even is one here in Australia because some of those conventional tests cannot always detect refined oil and other things."
However, thanks to a $385,000 grant from the Federal Government, the Australian Olive Association is cracking down on fraud.
It is implementing an industry code of practice, which will include a new, more advancedolive oil chemistry test in conjunction with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Mr Miller said the regulations, which will come into place early next year, will involve random testing in the market and will put Australia "up there" with Canada as one of the strictest when it comes to olive oil fraud.
"We're getting pretty serious about this and the re-structure of the industry will help us police it.
"We want to make sure we're delivering what we're saying we're delivering."
However, consumers needed to be aware that adulterated oil would not harm them.
"They aren't selling anything poisonous, rather it's similar to saying 'This is a really good bottle of cabernet sauvignon' when it's in fact a $2 job."
Australia's olive oil industry is relatively small. While the world produces 3 million tonnes, we produce 10,000 tonnes some 0.3 per cent of olive oil supply.
Our biggest export market is the US and increasingly, China.
As for Canberra, its olive oil industry is considered "boutique".
"Canberra has some quite good oils, but being quite cool, it tends to be at the smaller end of the market," Mr Miller said. "Nonetheless, they produce quite flavoursome oil, so there's some interesting stuff happening there."
Pialligo Estate Wines has been producing olive oil for about seven years. Owner Sally Milner said the winery, which picked about two tonnes of olives this year and produced about 300 litres of oil, sells the product in a "very boutique way".
"We put it into smaller bottles and pair it with a red wine vinegar that we make, we sell it from the cellar door, and serve it in our restaurant."
Because the winery didn't attempt to sell the olive oil retail or wholesale, fraud was not a serious issue for the business.
"But if we ever got into the stage where we were competing in the open market, we would be concerned about it.
"It would also worry us in the sense that people would have bad associations or experiences with olive oil and may not use it again, which would be a real shame.
"Olive oil not only tastes great and enhances the natural flavour of food, it is also very good for you." Those in the industry will attend the Australian Olive Expo takes at Exhibition Park from October 28-31.
Actually, Canola oil is not bad for you at all if it's in it's pure form. Once it's hydrogenated, heated, then it's bad for you. You're right about butter though. Our bodies actually know what to do with that stuff, but it has a much harder time breaking down hydrogenated- modified veggie oils.
That’s what I mean. Put something in a mixture like that and it’s going to settle out Fur Shur, and how could you afford to fake it!
It’s the same old story. You think you’re getting virgin or extra virgin and you discover you’ve procured adulterated stuff. And all these guys can suggest is to rely on the taste test? Sounds fishy to me.
BLAH! Soysauce is a poison in it’s own right.
The salt alone in that stuff is enough to kill you, never mind the rest of the -who knows what is really in there- stuff. Most of it is made in China after all. I never touch the stuff.
Wheat, barely and rye isn’t bad for you. The key is staying away from refined by-products made from it, like gluten.
Stick to whole grains and you’ll have a healthier digestive system
In fact, my geneome believes gluten to be a terrible poison!
If I eat it I will eventually die a miserable death with shriveled up intestines ravished by untreatable cancers.
Gluten occurs naturally in wheat, barley and rye ~ it's a major constituent in fact. Doesn't matter whether you eat it in refined flour or whole grain.
As far as soysauce being made in China, it is, in fact, made in China and Japan AND, most of all, in the United States. You have to work hard to find imported soy sauce outside of the traditional Oriental stores, and even there many of them actually import soy sauce from Kikkomen in Wisconsin because American soy products are considered the highest quality in the world.
Sounds pretty close to my diet as well. With diabetics in the family and being borderline myself, There isn’t much in the cupboards and fridge besides staples and raw veggies. No heat ‘n’ eat or snack foods around here, except for maybe a bag of frozen pirogies.
Wonder if we can get Trader Joe’s to start whipping up some glutenfree pirogies.
I predict that everyone posting on this thread, including me, will die of something.
Remember what Rush said about carrots? Every Civil War soldier who ever ate a carrot is dead, proving carrots are fatal.
Bertoli? The EVOO I buy from SAM’S?!
If you are allergic to the stuff, then that’s a different story. But generally, the natural gluten in whole grains isn’t bad for anyone.
When huge amounts of it are refined from grains and globed together in some sort of snack treat (whose ingredient list reads like a chemical factory inventory sheet) Well then it just can’t be good. It upsets the natural order of things.
For most, moderation and variety is the key to a healthy diet, and a diet rich in whole grains is very beneficial.
How about olive oil from CA?
If you're gluten intolerant, then wheat, rye and barley in any form are going to make you sick. The end game is a full blown celiac disease. Most soy sauce is made with wheat. You can find wheat free tamari if you insist on that kind of seasoning. Even beer is off the list for the gluten intolerant. No french fries either...they are often fried in oil that has been used to fry breaded chicken or shrimp. Eating is an exercise in eternal vigilance for the gluten intolerant.
What is wrong with canola oil?
Please explain to me how canola oil is "real" olive oil? Do you approve of fraud? I understand that you feel that "oil is oil" when cooking. Still, if you pay for a more expensive oil, then you should get what you pay for.
Mark
Ripple isn't made anymore. So if you come across a bottle, it's probably fake. ;-)
Now for the next fraud. Just how do you know the steak marked certified angus actualy came from an angus bred cow. I gaurantee you or anyoneelse could not tell the differance between an angus steak or one that came from a herford. Mark my word, this will be the next cash cow” pun intended” our legislature will face.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
