The EU is ringing alarm bells for the olive oilas the cases increase fraud and mislabeled. In fact, the Guardian reports, during the first quarter of 2024 a record number of such incidents were recorded, while the price of “liquid gold” is galloping, bringing price increases to a number of other products necessary for the daily table.

Extreme weather events due to the climate crisis, but also due to other factors, have reduced the production of olive oil, with the result that its price has skyrocketed since 2018.

Shortages and increased demand have fueled incidents of mislabeling, most of which are registered as fraud while putting consumers’ health at risk.

Characteristically, the Guardian, which has the data, reports that in the first quarter of 2018, the EU recorded just 15 such cases. In the first quarter of 2024, these cases reached 50, which is a record.

He adds, in fact, that these are only the cases that have been identified and reported by the member states to the General Directorate of Health of the EU, while the cases that remain inside the member countries are not included. So, the true size of the fraud is probably much higher.

The incidents that became known involved cases of oil contaminated with non-approved substances, such as pesticides and mineral oils.

In fact, in one case fragments of glass were also found.

There were also many cases in which olive oil although labeled as “extra virgin” was found to be adulterated with oils of poorer or cheaper quality.

In February, in a telling example, Germany reported a case from Israel.

Some oils crossed multiple borders, with Germany reporting a case of “mislabeling olive oil from Syria, via the Netherlands” in March.

Of the 182 fraud alerts sent to the EU since the beginning of 2023, 54 concerned products from Italy, 41 from Spain and 39 from Greece.

The EU introduced new rules on compliance checks of marketing standards for olive oil, as well as its methods of analysis, in July 2022.