Italian olive oil. Is 60 minutes right? Are Americans getting scammed?

[Pati]

The segment I'm referring to states"The most common type of fraud, Campanile explains, is mixing Italian extra-virgin with lower quality olive oils from North Africa and around the Mediterranean. In other cases, a bottle labeled "extra-virgin olive oil" may not be olive oil at all, just a seed oil like sunflower made to look and smell like olive oil with a few drops of chlorophyll and beta-carotene. Major Sergio Tirro of the Italian Carabinieri police, one of the top investigators of food fraud in Europe, showed 60 Minutes' Bill Whitaker just how easy it is to make a realistic-looking fake." Does anyone know more about this? Is it true? Just google 60Minutes olive oil segment for the whole article.

 

[Roz]

There have been a lot of articles about this in recent years. If you want to be 100% sure of getting authentic Tuscan olive oil in the US, buy the Kirkland Signature Toscano Extra Virgin Olive oil from Costco. It is produced in Tuscany and bottled under the Costco Kirkland label. It bears an Italian seal and number verifying its authenticity. Olive oil is generally harvested in the late fall / early winter, and the Costco oil always shows the date of harvest.

Since it is only imported right after the harvest, it generally appears on Costco's shelves in January / February. When this year's harvest is all sold (usually by summer), there won't be any more available until next year. It just came in to our local Costco, and I splurged on a case so I'll have enough to last most of the year. It is definitely the best oil I've found in the US that's generally available. Cost is $10.99 a liter.

Last year it disappeared really quickly and was only available in a limited number of Costcos because Italy had such a bad harvest in 2014. I understand this year's harvest was better, so I hope the supply is not so limited.

Here's an article showing the two olive oils produced under the Kirkland signature label. You want the one in the glass 1-liter bottle, not the plastic bottle. Differentiating between the two Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive Oils.

 

[jonathan]

If it's of any help, the Kirkland Toscano oil had arrived at the San Francisco Costco by Jan 2nd - we were there with Nick & Philly, and I suggested they got some because I'd remembered Roz's (and others') recommendations from past years. Sadly, we didn't get to taste it, because we flew home shortly after...

(That was my first time shopping in a Costco - an intriguing experience )

 

[Pauline]

This has been in the news a lot the last few years. I am not as upset about mixing in olive oil from other countries, but am not happy to read they use other types of oil. I never trust the cheap brands. In the UK I buy Clearspring Organic Italian Olive Oil (£14.50 for 1 liter) and I hope that it is the real thing. When we are in Italy I always bring back oil. On our recent trip to Basilicata we bought straight from the olive oil mill.

The article Pati mentioned:

CBS News - Don't fall victim to olive oil fraud, Jan 2016
60 Minutes producer Guy Campanile offers shoppers some tips on finding true Italian extra-virgin olive oil amid a sea of fakes

A couple of older articles:

The Telegraph - Italian olive oil scandal: seven top brands 'sold fake extra-virgin', by Nick Squires, Rome, Nov 2015
The investigation, the latest scandal to hit Italy's lucrative food and drink sector, involves seven well-known producers accused of passing off virgin olive oil as extra-virgin

The Telegraph - Four out of five' bottles of Italian olive oil debased, by Nick Squires, Rome, Dec 2011
Four out of five bottles of 'Italian' olive oil are being adulterated with lower quality oil from other Mediterranean countries, a police investigation has discovered.

 

[Valerie]

I've not heard of this happening in Italy, I think it is the export market that is targeted. Our experience for olive oil here is most people go directly to the mill to buy olive oil as it comes out (which is what we do), or they buy a quantity of olives from family growers and take them to the mill themselves, paying a fee to press them into the demijohns they bring with them.

 

[Pauline]

We were in Basilicata last Spring and Valerie took us to the local mill.

Antico Frantoio Di Perna in Campomaggiore. We bought 4 liters and brought them home. Excellent oil. I am just using the last of it now.

Here are a couple of photos. The owner gave us a tour of the mill and his new equipment.

 

[Valerie]

Time to come back and replenish your stocks!

 

[Sharon J]

I was unable to find any Kirkland Brand Olive Oil last year. Several weeks ago, I was at the Charleston Costco, and I was so happy to see Kirkland Brand Olive Oil in stock. There was a woman holding one of the big plastic bottles of oil and I suggested that she only buy the glass bottles. She asked why and I explained the reasoning. She said she had just gotten back from Southern Italy and their guide had told them to NEVER buy Italian Olive Oil. I asked her why, and she said they were told the Mafia had their hands in the production and it was not pure, but had additions of oil from many other countries. I told her I had not heard that, but was comfortable with the Kirkland brand being produced in Tuscany, with no other additions. She did not believe me, but did buy the glass bottle.

 

[Roz]

If it's of any help, the Kirkland Toscano oil had arrived at the San Francisco Costco by Jan 2nd - we were there with Nick & Philly, and I suggested they got some because I'd remembered Roz's (and others') recommendations from past years. Sadly, we didn't get to taste it, because we flew home shortly after...
(That was my first time shopping in a Costco - an intriguing experience )

Jonathan -- this is somewhat off topic, but I had thought from your post that they didn't have Costcos in the UK. The other night we were watching a Scott and Bailey video (UK police drama) and noticed at least two episodes with action taking place outside a Costco. I figured Costco must have paid for product placement! But anyway, I guess there are Costcos in the UK, although probably not nearly so many as in the US.

 

[jonathan]

So they do, Roz - 27, according to their website! And I'd never noticed... (None here in the Cotswolds, though!)

 

[Pauline]

I've never been to a Costco. There was one in Santa Fe but I didn't get to it. It looks like there are several in the UK. Bristol or Southampton are the closest to us.

http://warehouses.costco.co.uk/locations/

 

[Roz]

Here's a story about something else to watch out for if you ever buy pre-grated cheese (I don't!):
The Parmesan cheese you sprinkle on your penne could be wood.

 

[Pauline]

Which is why it is best to buy the least processed food possible! I don't buy pre-grated cheese either, but that story is horrible!

 

[Pauline]

I wrote a Day Trip page about the Basilicata Olive Oil.

 

[Roz]

The NY Times had an article today about a possible new law supposedly to prevent olive oil fraud, although apparently there is some dispute about whether it would have a good effect. Italy Growers Wary of Olive Oil Fraud as New Law is Weighed.

This paragraph concerned me: “There are two sectors in conflict because there is a different vision between ‘made in Italy,’ which means using Italian olives, and ‘product of Italy,’ which means olives from around the world blended with Italian know-how,” said Alberto Grimelli, an agronomist who is the editor of the specialist website “Teatro Naturale.”

The Kirkland olive oil I wrote about above is labeled "Product of Italy" so I did a little more research. I think that quote is misleading because I don't think it's necessarily true that "Product of Italy" means the olives did not come from Italy. I have heard, too, that some knock-off products (usually designer goods) are labeled Made in Italy, if they are assembled in Italy with cheap non-Italian components.

Anyway, I think the key point about verifying the origin of the oil is that it has the official classification guaranteeing its authenticity. The Kirkland oil has the Toscano IGP ((Indicazione Geografica Protetta,or Protected Geographical Indication) label, so it's pretty clearly authentically Tuscan.

 

[Roz]

By the way, here is a website where you can check on the specific origin of Tuscan olive oil: Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil. There is actually a search where you can find the producers of your bottle of Kirkland oil, or any that has the IGP number. Here's the result I got when I put in the number from one of my Kirkland bottles. (There was also a long list of the "Olivicoltori" or growers.)

 

[Valerie]

Hm, maybe I should get my olive oil guy to start selling and shipping direct, so you can all buy knowing it is 100% grown in Italy organic oil!

 

[Sharon J]

Interesting discussion. When I see Nico (Sant'Antonio) in May, I will ask his opinion, especially, since he makes his own olive oil.

 

[Ann]

Update to Roz's post above:
Italy Moves to Toughen Penalties for Olive Oil Fraud

 

[artnbarb]

Jonathan -- this is somewhat off topic, but I had thought from your post that they didn't have Costcos in the UK. The other night we were watching a Scott and Bailey video (UK police drama) and noticed at least two episodes with action taking place outside a Costco. I figured Costco must have paid for product placement! But anyway, I guess there are Costcos in the UK, although probably not nearly so many as in the US.

We saw not one, but TWO Costco's last summer, both in the suburbs of London. I had no idea Costco existed outside of the United States!