Europol, Spain, and Italy are combating the counterfeiting of virgin olive oil

The traditional olive harvests of Spain and to some extent in some areas of Italy has been far from satisfactory, which means among other consequences that the price of virgin olive oil, so demanding for Mediterranean gastronomy, has soared, and so have attempts to smuggle the produce from northern Africa as well as different methods to commercialize adulterated oil. No wonder then that Europol's coordinated effort to combat food fraud and counterfeiting supported an investigation into the olive oil situation. The EMPACT funded operation was initiated by the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), who joined forces with the Italian Carabinieri. This has led to eleven arrests and the seizure of over 260 000 liters of olive oil unfit for consumption. Europol explains that faking extra virgin olive oil is a common practice, which is why the fight against it is a law enforcement priority - especially in production countries. In this food fraud operation, investigators uncovered that the ...