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Why the olive oil in your salad dressing may be a fraud

Back in the 24th century BC — that’s before both the Western world and the Internet — those living under the Kingdom of Ebla, 15 centuries before the rise of Greek civilization, wouldn’t dream of bathing or doing sports without covering their bodies in olive oil. 

We haven’t quite kept up the tradition (though no one knows for sure what’s in Hawaiian Tropic), but the elixir of salad dressings has maintained its cultural significance in our society — if not on our plates.

But these days, the sanctity of the US $1.5-billion olive oil market is at risk, says Tom Mueller, author of the new book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, who spent three years studying the subject.

“It turned out to be far more complex, far more fraud-ridden, far more interesting and culturally rich than I had ever imagined,” said Mueller, an American freelance writer based in Liguria, Italy.

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History

The earliest mention of olive oil was written on a cuneiform tablet in 24th century B.C., according to Mueller.

It also contained the first reference to olive oil fraud — police checking to make sure what was being bottled as olive oil was, indeed, the kind made from olives. Many of those bottles had markings from Roman officials, confirming its authenticity.

In the ancient world, olive oil held special economic, social and political status, equal to petroleum today. But its uses were more varied, from food to fuel for lamps, heating, medicine and also for religious reasons.

Everyone used it, from slaves to emperors. Today there are some 700 varieties of olives, with 400 coming from Italy. Health benefits range from improved skin and hair to lowering cholesterol and risk of cancer.

Today’s reality: the bad

“It’s hard and expensive to make really good olive oil,” said Mueller. And that pretty much sums it up.

These days, the market is saturated with fakes. Most of it is low-grade coming out of Spain, Mueller says, claiming to be extra-virgin but doctored and deodorized to remove impurities or containing other oils, such as soybean or hazelnut.

It’s especially compromised in the industrial market, the kinds served in restaurants, hospitals and prepackaged foods.

Extra-virgin means you’ve only used mechanical or physical processes to get the oil out of the olive, without using chemistry or heat. Low-quality olive oil has “sensory flaws,” including rancidity, mustiness (mould) and fermentation.

A University of California Davis study found 69 per cent of imported oil to the United States failed to meet international standards for extra-virgin olive oil.

Mueller said the biggest culprits are six big Spanish and Portuguese bottling companies, which have driven down the price of olive oil to about 1.80 euro per litre — an “impossible” low price. Five years ago, it would have cost 5 euro. “Massive, massive loss of value,” that drives the price down and hurts producers, said Mueller.

“They’re making money off of substandard oil that they’re selling as extra-virgin,” said Mueller. “Consumers don’t benefit; they’re being ripped off, and honest producers are being undercut unfairly because a substandard product, which costs a lot less, is being sold under the same label as their good oil.”

The good

Unlike the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates the import, distribution and sale of olive oil, with fines ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 for violating the regulations. The agency also conducts olive oil tests, but most inspections are carried out only on products already suspected of being fake. Over the past three years, 11 products, or about 10 per cent of tested oils, did not meet international standards. The CFIA encourages the oil industry to increase its own testing to protect customers from misrepresentation.

Mueller only buys olive oil from reputable producers, with some suggestions posted on his website, extravirginity.com.

“In order to know the difference, you have to have your first taste of good olive oil and it’s not easy to come by,” said Muller.

He encourages people to find the “truth in olive oil” for themselves.

“Celebrate good producers, call out the bad guys and put consumers directly in touch with the producers of quality oil.”

Note: This article has been edited from a previous version.

suppers and buffets with Bill & Sheila

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