A Word From Our CEO: I Wish We Didn’t Have to Talk About This But We Do

What is food fraud?

As someone who has dedicated his life to creating the most refined olive oils, believe me, nothing would make me happier than never having to mention the problem of food fraud. Why? Because this would mean that the problem has been resolved! However, sadly, food fraud is still an ongoing problem, so I believe it’s essential that we address it head-on and raise awareness.

Food fraud is defined as deliberately altering, misrepresenting, mislabeling, substituting or otherwise tampering with any food product to deceive the customer. Unfortunately, food fraud occurs more often than you think. From Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses to seafood, honey, and even spices such as saffron or cinnamon, labels sometimes lie.

Before delving into food fraud, it is useful to remember that today, in terms of quantity, Italy is second in the producer states after Spain. Regarding agricultural biodiversity on the territory, however, our country has no rivals, with about 500 varieties of olives, over 40% of those existing worldwide.

Extra virgin olive oil, having a higher value, is by far the first on the list when it comes to oil fraud. Moreover, the relative ease with which it can be modified and the difficulty in identifying manipulations make it very vulnerable in this sense. The most common causes have to do with:

1. Blending with other less valuable vegetable oils, such as refined seed oils, especially sunflower oils, or, even worse, with deodorized and deacidified pomace oil (olive processing residue). Often dyes are added to improve the appearance (typically, beta-carotene and chlorophyll).
2. Replacement with vegetable or olive oils of lower commodity category (e.g., virgin oil sold for extra virgin).

Food fraud affects taste and flavor and can have disastrous consequences when it comes to quality, as falsified products with poor preservation can be stripped of their essential nutrients and organoleptic properties, resulting in less inherent health benefits.

Even worse, food fraud negatively impacts food culture since many products, like Extra Virgin Olive Oil, symbolize an integral part of a specific region or territory like they are in Italy. What to do then? How to set apart genuine Extra Virgin Olive Oil from a fake one?

How to spot real Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Thankfully, all is not lost since several prestigious Italian universities have now developed technologies for detecting food fraud. Via these new technologies, brands such as Vignoli Food can protect consumers and our gastronomic heritage, which positively impacts tourism and exports.

You can also do your part to protect yourself from food fraud by:

• Reading food labels closely to ensure you’re getting a genuine product.
• Choosing brands you know and trust and shopping with reputable retailers.
• Doing some tests.

Here are my recommendations on what to check to tell if an EVOO is a real one:

• Acidity: A true extra virgin olive oil with a perfect taste does not exceed 0.8% acidity by law. However, a quality EVOO does not exceed 0.2%–0.3%.
• Harvest date: A fake extra virgin olive oil does not have one because the producers mixed different olives or old ones to make it.
• Taste: A true extra virgin olive oil has a peppery bite. It also tastes a bit spicy because it has a high content of polyphenols (natural antioxidants).
• Smell: A true extra virgin olive oil has a distinct smell of fresh olives; if you can’t smell the olives, it is not authentic EVOO.
• Label: Avoid oils that bear the wording “olive oil produced with olives from the European Community.” This means that the oil is a blend of olives or even oils of different origins, including areas or countries that produce poor-quality oils.

Remember that a quality EVOO oil gives a perception of fruitiness which, depending on the variety of olives and their ripeness, can be intense, medium, or delicate.

Salute,

Claudio

Claudio Vignoli, Vignoli Food Anthology Founder, olive oil sommelier, and master oil miller.