Distribution of cooking oil disguised as olive oil – seizure of 16,500 litres of adulterated product in Portugal

The Portuguese Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE), through the National Intelligence and Investigation Unit (UNIIC) and the Mirandela Operational Unit, carried out a control operation in the districts of Aveiro and Bragança, which led to the seizure of products worth 82,500 euros. Cooking oil labelled as olive oil The operations targeted a warehouse and an industrial unit dedicated to the packaging of oils and olive oils. Officials identified fraudulent practices consisting of labelling bottles of cooking oil as olive oil of different categories, without any proof of purchase of the original olive oil. These operations misled the consumer about the characteristics of the product itself. 82,819 incorrect labels and 16,500 liters of cooking oil were seized, most of which had already been labelled as alleged olive oil. Potential Olive Oil Fraud Surge The crackdown has led to two criminal cases being opened for fraudulent trade in goods, and ASAE said it will continue to step ...