EU records spike in olive oil fraud and mislabeling cases as climate change batters production

29 Jul 2024 --- The EU has recorded a sharp increase in potential cases of olive oil fraud and mislabeling in the first quarter of this year, attributed to rising prices for key commodities worldwide. 

Extra virgin olive oil prices have skyrocketed to an unprecedented level due to climate change and the burden of high interest rates. The most influential olive markets in the EU — Bari (Italy), Chania (Greece) and Jaén (Spain) — are grappling with historic price surges. At the same time, global production has plummeted from 3.4 metric tons last year to 2.3 metric tons this year.

Industry experts predicted a scenario where the global demand for the kitchen staple will outweigh supply, in May this year. The crunch has led to increased prices and fraudulent activities, including mislabeling, adulterated olive oil and potential fraud cases.

A spokesperson for the European Commission tells Food Ingredients First: “The Commission has zero tolerance for fraud.”

“Detecting and fighting food fraud is the responsibility of the member states, notably under the provisions of the Official Control Regulation. It provides a comprehensive set of tools to tackle fraud, including provisions for cooperation in case of violations spanning across borders and gives the Commission a role in coordinating and enforcing the effective application of these measures at EU level.”

“The EU Agri-Food Fraud Network is an extremely important forum through which member states cooperate and exchange information with each other and with the Commission.”

“It allows us to fill information gaps and to tackle cross-border fraud in a coordinated, unified manner. Some important fraud cases have been detected and thwarted thanks to this Network and the cooperation of member states across borders,” says the spokesperson.

Olive oil adulteration and potential fraud
The EU has marketing standards to ensure that agricultural products in the market meet standardized and satisfactory quality standards and can deliver on consumer expectations.

The EU olive oil legislation explicitly lays down the different categories of olive and olive-pomace oils and the relevant analysis methods to be used by member states control authorities. The regulation also defines rules for labeling and packaging olive oil and related products.

EU law stipulates that member states must perform several checks proportionate to the volume of olive oil marketed in their country.EU law stipulates that EU countries must perform several checks and controls in line with the volume of olive oil marketed in their country. This helps the Commission ensure the region follows marketing standards for olive and olive-pomace oils.

Despite existing legislation, the EU recorded 15 such cases at the beginning of 2018. However, according to data accessed by The Guardian under freedom of information laws, 50 such cases have already been recorded in Q1 of 2024.

The data includes instances of olive oil found to be adulterated with oils of a cheaper quality and even those unsuitable for human consumption, pesticides and shards of glass.

Meanwhile, in Spain — which accounts for more than 40% of the world’s olive oil production — 41 cases of olive oil fraud and non-compliance have been reported since the beginning of 2023.

“The notifications in the data file used in the article are reported as non-compliance and not as fraudulent activities. Therefore, the data cannot be used to determine that there is an exacerbated risk,” the Commission spokesperson tells us.

“Indeed, a higher number of notifications in the system could also be due to the fact that member states each have different controls. For example if one decides to intensify controls on the market for a specific consignment, it could lead to more notifications in the system.”

“Additionally, the yearly higher reported number of notifications are proof of better exchanges of member states’ Competent Authorities and their vigilance toward fraud in the agri-food chain.”

Member states take action based on the seriousness of the irregularities detected.

Crackdown on food frauds
The EU is cracking down on other low-quality or fraudulent F&B staples, such as honey, coffee and cocoa.

The European Parliament and EU Council reached a provisional agreement in February this year to drive transparency in the honey sector and help mitigate adulteration, which has consistently plagued the market.

Significant amounts of honey imported from non-EU countries are suspected of being adulterated with sugar and remain undetected on the EU market. The new proposals specifically focus on countering this fraud while better informing consumers.

By Anvisha Manral