Counterfeit olive oil is a real thing

From: Sue G.

Sent: June 18, 2012

To: undisclosed recipients

Subject: Fw: Counterfeit olive oil is a real thing

The Italian fraud squad recently announced they were investigating allegations that the country's largest olive oil producers have adulterated Italian oil with cheaper imports from Spain, Greece, Morocco and Tunisia.

While this investigation has just come to light, fraud in the Italian olive oil industry is very old indeed.

Amphorae used to store olive oil in ancient Rome display several anti-fraud measures, including clear labelling and a primitive form of "traceability". In the original Godfather novel, Mario Puzo modelled Vito Corleone on a real-life olive oil mafioso named Joe Profaci. Just this month, an American writer living in Liguria named Tom Mueller published a book about fraud in the Italian olive oil industry.

The text develops an interesting article on the subject he wrote for the New Yorker in 2007. Continue reading.