The different types of fraud
Olive oil is easy to falsify, and tampering is hard to detect by sight, smell or taste. In the vast majority of cases, consumers can only smell and taste the oil after buying it. Usually knowing rather little about the product, they are swayed by packaging, a label, a price or a salesperson's comments, and often remain unaware of the real quality of what they have bought.
We are talking here about fraud, scams, deception, or simply taking advantage of some consumers' lack of attention to sell them a product without them knowing exactly what they are buying.
Poisoning
This means selling adulterated or lampante oil, or oil mixed with toxic substances, as extra virgin olive oil.
Large-scale fraud
This is deception about the goods. Put simply, it means selling refined olive oil, or other refined and deodorised vegetable oils mixed with a little extra virgin oil and sometimes synthetic flavourings, as high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
In January 2014, a slideshow in the New York Times "Opinion" section claimed that 69% of olive oil imported from Italy and sold in the United States was adulterated or had sensory defects that meant it could not legally be called extra virgin.
It can also mean selling a merely virgin oil, or even "olive oil" (refined oil blended with virgin oil), as extra virgin. See the different grades of olive oil.
Deception about freshness
The seller charges the price of fresh oil for stale extra virgin olive oil that has completely lost its flavour. This often happens when oil is poorly stored (too much light or heat, or gone flat because of a leaking cap), when it is kept in large drums and drawn off on demand, or simply when it is kept too long, more than two years. It oxidises and loses all its beneficial components, its aroma and its taste, and sometimes becomes rancid and unpleasant. It nonetheless remains edible, with no harmful effects on health.
This is very common with the refillable cruets in cafés, hotels and restaurants, which are regularly topped up from much cheaper 5- or 15-litre cans. It is not always deliberate: it can also come from negligence, error or a lack of knowledge about the product.
Deception about the real origin and production
The typical case is extra virgin oil sold as "made in Italy" that actually comes from Spain or Morocco, or oil sold with a PDO mention it is not entitled to, because it is not produced in the geographical area or because the mill is not registered with the PDO for failing to meet its criteria.
It can be subtler and stay on the edge of legality: an Italian or French brand sells extra virgin oil with a name, colours and graphics that evoke well-known olive-growing regions of those countries, while the oil comes from another country, or from a blend of oils from several countries. In this case nothing on the label is untrue: the real origin is stated, in very small print. There is also the case of an origin statement that is too vague ("produced in the European Union") and the distinction between production and bottling (oil produced in Morocco and bottled in Italy, for example). These practices are also common in cafés, hotels and restaurants that serve oil in refillable cruets.
What are we protected against?
The law, institutions, public and private inspection and anti-fraud bodies, consumer associations and the speed at which information spreads protect us from the major risks, but some legal gaps remain.
Poisoning
Poisoning is a serious crime, health checks are extensive, and a case of food poisoning has such dramatic and immediate consequences for the producer and distributor that a deliberate act is practically impossible and negligence exceptional.
Large-scale fraud
European law on olive oil is stricter than US law. It defines the different categories of olive oil (extra virgin, virgin, lampante, refined and "olive oil") very precisely, with strict criteria, as well as production standards. Member States must carry out at least one conformity check per 1000 tonnes of olive oil marketed each year.
Nevertheless, in most European countries checks and fines are still insufficient, and such large-scale fraud (fraud for some, negligence for others) unfortunately still exists. It is often consumer associations or specialist magazines that expose it, by carrying out the analyses the authorities have not done. For example, in issue 425 of March 2008, the French magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs revealed that three own-brand oils (from three different retailers) were sold as extra virgin although chemical analyses showed they did not qualify, and one was even unfit for consumption (lampante).
When fraud is found, offenders are penalised three times over: heavy fines, product recalls and damage to their reputation. But it pays to stay alert and to be wary of entry-level products at prices that look too good to be true.
The weak point of European law and its national versions is the ambiguity of the term "olive oil", which refers to lampante oil made edible by chemical refining, with a little extra virgin or virgin oil added to give it an olive taste.
Deception about freshness
The rules are somewhat vague on this. As with most foods, the label must show a best-before date, but the law does not require the harvest or extraction date to be stated. Stored in very good conditions, olive oil practically never becomes unfit to eat, so the date mainly indicates how long it keeps its qualities. Yet the rate of oxidation varies enormously with the olive variety and storage conditions. Some varieties, such as Picual or Cornicabra, keep their flavour for nearly four years; others, such as Arbequina or Frantoio, rarely last more than two.
For refillable cruets in cafés, hotels and restaurants, the European Commission proposed in 2013 to require non-refillable bottles with a non-refillable pourer, as for spirits, but withdrew the proposal the same year. The requirement does exist in several countries:
- in Portugal, since Portaria 24/2005;
- in Spain, since 1 January 2014 (Royal Decree 895/2013);
- in Italy, since 25 November 2014 (Law 161/2014).
Deception about the real origin and production
The Court of Justice of the European Communities ruled that a systematic requirement to state the origin of imported products could favour domestic products over imports, and therefore constituted a barrier to trade contrary to the European Treaty. Since 1986, no national or EU provision has therefore required origin marking on products made in the European Union or imported, with rare exceptions (fruit and vegetables, meat, animal feed…) and except where there is a risk of misleading the buyer about the origin or provenance of the goods. Flags, emblems or names in particular can be misleading, and nothing must suggest that an imported product was made in the country of destination.
French origin, for example, is conferred by the last substantial processing of the product. For olive oil, this means that if the olives come from abroad but the oil is extracted and bottled in France, it will be "made in France" olive oil. Origin marking is the sole responsibility of the manufacturer or importer; however, any false statement, or one likely to mislead consumers about a product's provenance, is an offence.
Furthermore, the exact country of production does not have to be stated: "olive oil of the European Union" or "olive oil not originating in the European Union" is enough. For example, if the Puget brand, which is associated with France, sells oil of Spanish origin under its name, it must at least state that the oil comes from the European Union, so that consumers do not mistakenly associate the brand with a product made in France.
In conclusion, while false statements are rare, because they are relatively well controlled and heavily penalised, the absence of precise information, or deliberately vague information within the limits of the law and case law, is common practice.
How can you check an oil's quality and origin by reading its label?