21 May

Mineral oil in land of the olive

By Nikos Xydakis,
Although many jokes have been made about the sunflower oil contamination scandal, it is no laughing matter.
It is not even an isolated incident, because along with the contaminated oil from Ukraine, we are also seeing large quantities of sunflower oil from Belgium – the heart of the European Union – being withdrawn [...]

08 Mar

what does ‘extra-virgin’ really mean?

Bee Wilson looks into the murky world of olive oil.
‘Extra-virgin’ suggests great purity. It sounds even better in Italy, land of superlatives and Madonnas: extravergine. It rolls off the tongue like a prayer. So it’s a shame that much Italian extra-virgin olive oil - perfect oil from the first pressing of olives - is anything [...]

05 Mar

Italian police crack down on olive oil fraud

By Malcolm Moore,
Police in Italy have arrested 23 people and confiscated 85 farms in an operation that has exposed the scale of the country’s fraudulent olive oil trade.
More than 400 officers took part in Operation Golden Oil after an investigation discovered as many as 91 people may have been involved in passing off low quality [...]