Italian farming associations
have developed a label that national producers of extra virgin
olive oil can display on bottles to show that they are 100%
Italian, aiming to fight a growing threat from fake
foreign-sourced products.
Fraudulent oil is estimated to cost the sector 1.5 billion
euros per year. Last week Italian police said they had
discovered a network of oil producers that sold 2,000 tons of
Greek and Spanish oil in 2014 and 2015 as fully Italian, the
latest in a string of similar cases in recent years.
"Quality extra virgin olive oil is the jewel in the crown
of our agriculture," Dino Scanavino, president of Italian
farming association Cia, told a news conference.
"Olive oil pays a price beyond measure for a reputation
threatened by instances of fraud and adulteration," he said.
The farming groups said the labelling project aimed to
highlight bottles of Italian oil that met a list of specific
conditions.
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