'Top-end' olive oil from Italy? Often no
By Lu Feiran |
December 29, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI entry-exit authorities are inspecting olive oil imported from Italy after the Italian agriculture federation said unscrupulous producers are mixing in cheaper oil from Greece, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia and passing it off as top-end extra virgin oil.
According to the Telegraph, Italian investigators became suspicious when they noticed that Italy was importing more olive oil than it was exporting - 470,000 tons against 250,000 tons - prompting questions about where the imported stuff was ending up.
The fraud was uncovered by the Italian customs service and police from the Guardia di Finanza, or fraud squad, with the encouragement of Coldiretti, one of the country's biggest agricultural organizations, said the newspaper.
The con is being perpetrated by what amounted to an "agro-mafia" of dishonest producers and manufacturers, Coldiretti said.
"It involves 13 of the biggest olive oil producers; there are some very famous names," Stefano Masini, the organization's spokesman, told the Telegraph.
Olive oil has become increasingly popular in China. Most of the imported variety sold in China comes from Italy and Spain.
China last year imported more than 6,500 tons of olive oil from Italy, double that in 2009. Italian-made olive oil now occupies about 35 percent of the Chinese market and is hotly sold on e-commerce platforms. Almost all the main brands are available on Taobao.com, China's leading e-commerce website.
According to the Telegraph, Italian investigators became suspicious when they noticed that Italy was importing more olive oil than it was exporting - 470,000 tons against 250,000 tons - prompting questions about where the imported stuff was ending up.
The fraud was uncovered by the Italian customs service and police from the Guardia di Finanza, or fraud squad, with the encouragement of Coldiretti, one of the country's biggest agricultural organizations, said the newspaper.
The con is being perpetrated by what amounted to an "agro-mafia" of dishonest producers and manufacturers, Coldiretti said.
"It involves 13 of the biggest olive oil producers; there are some very famous names," Stefano Masini, the organization's spokesman, told the Telegraph.
Olive oil has become increasingly popular in China. Most of the imported variety sold in China comes from Italy and Spain.
China last year imported more than 6,500 tons of olive oil from Italy, double that in 2009. Italian-made olive oil now occupies about 35 percent of the Chinese market and is hotly sold on e-commerce platforms. Almost all the main brands are available on Taobao.com, China's leading e-commerce website.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
