Olive oil regulation and adulteration
Olive oil regulation and adulteration are complex issues overseen and studied by various governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, and private researchers across the world.
[citation needed] The International Olive Council (IOC) is an intergovernmental organization with 16 member states plus the European Union based in Madrid, Spain.
It promotes olive oil around the world by tracking production, defining quality standards, and monitoring authenticity.
[citation needed] The United States is not a member of the IOC, and the US Department of Agriculture does not legally recognize its classifications, such as extra-virgin olive oil.
In October 2011, the United States adopted new olive oil standards, revising those that had been in place since 1948, which affected importers and domestic growers and producers by ensuring conformity with the benchmarks commonly accepted in the U.S. and abroad.
[3][4] Yet most major US brands continue to put "imported from Italy" on the front label in large letters and other origins on the back in very small print.
[citation needed] In the United States, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does not routinely test imported olive oil for adulteration.
[citation needed] The detection of olive oil adulteration is often complicated with no single test that can accomplish the task.
Each test provides key information which allows a decision to be made with respect to the grade of olive oil and the identity of any adulterants.
These techniques require extensive sample preparation, which needs specific optimization to ensure extraction of sufficient DNA, and that PCR inhibitors are not affecting the analysis.
[11] In 2014, an “invisible oil tag” using artificial, sub-micrometer-sized DNA barcodes was suggested by researchers from ETH Zurich.
The barcodes consist of magnetically recoverable silica particles containing synthetic DNA sequences, which are added to the oil in a very small amount (down to 1 ppb) and can be retrieved at any time for authenticity test by PCR/sequencing.
The advantages of this method, compared to conventional techniques are its low-cost, minimal sample preparation and minute volumes, and its universalness, since it can be applied to any oil type/sample.
However, based on these results, the absence or any visible congealing after a week of refrigeration would not be an encouraging sign if the olive oil had been sold as pure extra virgin.
In some cases, lampante, or "lamp oil," which is made from spoiled olives fallen from trees, is used, even though it can't legally be sold as food.
[34] In December 2008, the Guardia Civil in La Rioja (Spain) warned about the possible sale of adulterated olive oil in the area.
The standard IOC/USDA chemical tests only identified 31% of the failed oils as defective, primarily by exceeding the IOC/USDA limit for ultraviolet absorbance of late oxidation products (K232 and K268); two more recently introduced German chemical tests (now incorporated into the Australian extra-virgin standard) were each more than twice as effective at detection of defective oils.
The IOC stated that the study contained "[an] evident undercurrent of aggressive, inexplicable criticism of imported olive oil quality".
Carapelli lawyer Neri Pinucci said the company was not worried about the charges and that "the case is based on an irregularity in the documents".
[39] However, in June 2017 the Italian Antitrust Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato), found them guilty of unfair business practices regarding their olive oil brands and imposed fines on them and the discount supermarket chain Lidl, amounting to nearly €1 million.
