Counterfeit EVOO puts public health at stake and nine brands are under investigation
Caio Alves
Published 2020년 11월 18일
The federal government has been conducting an investigation through the Civil Police of Espírito Santo state, in coordination to the Consumer Protection Police (Decon), which last week dismembered a criminal organization specialized in the counterfeiting of olive oils.
Nine brands of extra virgin olive oil should be withdrawn from the market on suspicion of fraud, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to research, the products sold as extra virgin olive oil were actually soybean oil. "The adulteration and falsification of olive oil is not exclusively about consumer fraud, but a crime against public health," said Hugo Caruso, general coordinator of Plant Quality at the Department of Agricultural Defense.
Surveillance destroyed 4,000 counterfeit olive oil bottles up to now.
The brands under investigation, which would be fictitious labels, are: Casalberto, Conde de Torres, Donana (Premium), Flor de España, La Valenciana, Porto Valencia, Serra das Oliveiras, Serra de Montejunto and Torezani (Premium). The investigated companies created the brands, using supposedly imported oils, and put for the branded product for sale in the domestic market.
Failure to comply with the prohibition may result in a fine to the holder of the goods, and a legal suit to the Federal Public Prosecutor for possible civil and criminal liabilities. According to the agency, the investigated companies mixed the oil, put it in bottles and sold it as if it were a more expensive product.
Decon investigation goes beyond the scheme to be tampered with olive oil, claiming that state tax evasion has been in place for about five years. The product under suspicion of adulteration was marketed in Greater Vitória and in the interior of Espírito Santo. There is also information that the products were shipped to other states.
According to the agency, the investigated mixed the oil, put it in bottles and sold it as if it were a more expensive product.
Nine brands of extra virgin olive oil should be withdrawn from the market on suspicion of fraud, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to research, the products sold as extra virgin olive oil were actually soybean oil. "The adulteration and falsification of olive oil is not exclusively about consumer fraud, but a crime against public health," said Hugo Caruso, general coordinator of Plant Quality at the Department of Agricultural Defense.
Surveillance destroyed 4,000 counterfeit olive oil bottles up to now.
The brands under investigation, which would be fictitious labels, are: Casalberto, Conde de Torres, Donana (Premium), Flor de España, La Valenciana, Porto Valencia, Serra das Oliveiras, Serra de Montejunto and Torezani (Premium). The investigated companies created the brands, using supposedly imported oils, and put for the branded product for sale in the domestic market.
Failure to comply with the prohibition may result in a fine to the holder of the goods, and a legal suit to the Federal Public Prosecutor for possible civil and criminal liabilities. According to the agency, the investigated companies mixed the oil, put it in bottles and sold it as if it were a more expensive product.
Decon investigation goes beyond the scheme to be tampered with olive oil, claiming that state tax evasion has been in place for about five years. The product under suspicion of adulteration was marketed in Greater Vitória and in the interior of Espírito Santo. There is also information that the products were shipped to other states.
According to the agency, the investigated mixed the oil, put it in bottles and sold it as if it were a more expensive product.
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