![]() ![]() ![]() In 2012, Italian investigators looked into claims that some of the largest producers had adulterated domestic oil with less expensive imports from Spain, Greece, Morocco and Tunisia. It is not the first time that Italian olive oil has come under scrutiny. Virgin olive oil, which is hard to find in a supermarket, is of a slightly lower quality, with a more acidic flavour, while plain olive oil is refined and often treated with chemicals and deodorised to mask the taste of rancid, spoilt oil. It comes from the first press of healthy olives, and has a maximum acidity of 0.8%. ![]() The other companies under investigation did not respond to requests for comment.Įxtra virgin is the highest quality olive oil, and consequently the most expensive. The company promised to present the prosecutor investigating the case with counter-analysis to confirm that its behaviour was “fair and correct”. “The protested batch, before being sold on the market, had been carefully analysed either by the company or independently recognised laboratories and all the analysis confirmed compliance to the quality standards,” Coricelli said. ![]() According to allegations in Italian press reports, an analysis of samples from all seven brands found that they did not meet EU labelling rules for extra virgin olive oil.One of the companies under investigation, Coricelli, said the inquiry was based entirely on taste tests by professional tasters that could not reliably discern whether the oil met industry standards. ![]()
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