The C. bergamia is frequently misidentified as another citrus, C. hystrix (kaffir lime), due to the latter occasionally going by the name "Thai Bergamot".

Production is mostly limited to the Ionian Sea coastal areas of the province of Reggio di Calabria in Italy, to such an extent that it is a symbol of the entire city.

To protect the reputation of their produce, the Italian government introduced tight controls, including testing and certificates of purity.

The Stazione Sperimentale per le Industrie delle Essenze e dei Derivati dagli Agrumi (Experimental Station for Essential Oil and Citrus By-Products) located in Reggio di Calabria, is the quality control body for the essential oil Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria DOP.

Rival products from Brazil and Mexico came onto the market as a substitute, but these were produced from other citrus fruits such as sweet lime.

[21] Bergamot is a major component of the original Eau de Cologne composed by Jean-Marie Farina at the beginning of the 18th century in Germany.

In several patch test studies, application of some sources of bergamot oil directly to the skin of guinea pigs was shown to have a concentration-dependent phototoxic effect of increasing redness after exposure to ultraviolet light (due to the chemical bergapten, and possibly also citropten, bergamottin, geranial, and neral).

[27] As of 2017, clinical research conducted on bergamot oil has been of poor quality, with no conclusions about its possible biological effects.