The EU had a record number of potential olive oil fraud and mislabelling cases in the first quarter of this year as inflationary pressures fuelled an increase in the hidden market for the kitchen staple.
The cost of olive oil has more than doubled since 2018 with production hit by extreme weather caused by the climate crisis and other factors.
As the price has spiked, so has the number of “cross-border EU notifications”, which include mislabelling, potential fraud, and safety cases involving contaminated oils.
In the first quarter of 2018, just 15 such cases were recorded by the EU. That rose to a record 50 cases in the first three months of this year, more than a threefold increase, according to data released to the Guardian under freedom of information laws.
However, these cases are only those to have been detected and reported by member states to the EU directorate general for health. The figure omits domestic cases and the true scale of the fraud is probably much higher.
The incident reports included oils contaminated with unauthorised substances such as pesticides, mineral oils and one case where glass fragments were discovered.
There were also many cases where extra virgin olive oil was judged to be adulterated, for example by mixing it with poorer or cheaper quality oils, cases where virgin olive oil was labelled as extra virgin (a more premium unrefined oil with a lower acidity), and several cases of misleading or false origin labelling.
In February, in a typical example, Germany reported a case from Israel of “lampante oil”, a quality considered not suitable for human consumption without further refining, being marketed as “extra virgin olive oil”. Some oils crossed several borders, with Germany reporting a case of “misleading mislabelling of olive oil from Syria, via the Netherlands” in March.