Retired in Euskadi

We received an email recently from a friend with the attached list of olive oils that had been tested by the Spanish organisation OCU (Organizacion de Consumidores y Usarios) some of which had been found very inferior/not recommended.
I think the Spanish should be mostly self explanatory (eg buena calidad = good quality; media calidad = medium quality, etc)
I attach the list which I had to put into an MS Word.doc format.
I hope it is of use.
/Users/paulattard/Desktop/Listado de los aceites de oliva testados por la OCU.docx

Dick Dasterdly

I notice that new legislation is being applied to try and stop the widespread use of junk olive oil in restaurants.

All oil containers placed on tables will state the origin and most importantly will be constructed so they cannot be refilled with rubbish oil masquerading behind a false label.

Wether or not the restaurants find a way around it or what they will continue to use behind the scenes could be an entirely different kettle of fish.

Fred James

Sorry but your link doesn't work.

Fred James

Most of the restaurants I have been to don't have any labels on the dispensors - you just take what comes.

That's OK with me - they don't charge extra for it.

What next? Labels on the salt and pepper?

Crazy and this time it isn't the EU doing it - they tried but gave up.

Dick Dasterdly

Salt and pepper are hardly difficult to recognise and so cheap there would be little point in any fiddling.

Oil is an entirely different subject.
The large quantities used don't come cheap, if of decent quality.

I think the authorities must have serious concerns to make such a move.
I also wonder if there have already been some heath issues as a result of such dodgy practices ?

Dick Dasterdly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil

Adulteration

"The adulteration of oil can be no more serious than passing off inferior, but safe, product as superior olive oil, but there are no guarantees. It is believed that almost 700 people died in 1981 as a consequence of consuming rapeseed oil adulterated with aniline intended for use as an industrial lubricant, but sold as olive oil in Spain (see toxic oil syndrome).[37]
There have been allegations that regulation, particularly in Italy and Spain, is extremely lax and corrupt.[38] Major shippers are claimed to routinely adulterate olive oil and that only about 40% of olive oil sold as "extra virgin" in Italy actually meets the specification.[39] In some cases, colza oil (Swedish turnip) with added color and flavor has been labeled and sold as olive oil.[40] This extensive fraud prompted the Italian government to mandate a new labeling law in 2007 for companies selling olive oil, under which every bottle of Italian olive oil would have to declare the farm and press on which it was produced, as well as display a precise breakdown of the oils used, for blended oils.[41] In February 2008, however, EU officials took issue with the new law, stating that under EU rules such labeling should be voluntary rather than compulsory.[42] Under EU rules, olive oil may be sold as Italian even if it only contains a small amount of Italian oil.[41]
Extra Virgin olive oil has strict requirements and is checked for "sensory defects" that include: rancid, fusty, musty, winey (vinegary) and muddy sediment. These defects can occur for different reasons. The most common are:
Raw material (olives) infected or battered
Inadequate harvest, with contact between the olives and soil [43]
In March 2008, 400 Italian police officers conducted "Operation Golden Oil", arresting 23 people and confiscating 85 farms after an investigation revealed a large-scale scheme to relabel oils from other Mediterranean nations as Italian.[44] In April 2008, another operation impounded seven olive oil plants and arrested 40 people in nine provinces of northern and southern Italy for adding chlorophyll to sunflower and soybean oil, and selling it as extra virgin olive oil, both in Italy and abroad; 25,000 liters of the fake oil were seized and prevented from being exported.[45]
On March 15, 2011, the Florence, Italy prosecutor's office, working in conjunction with the forestry department, indicted two managers and an officer of Carapelli, one of the brands of the Spanish company Grupo SOS (which recently changed its name to Deoleo). The charges involved falsified documents and food fraud. Carapelli lawyer Neri Pinucci said the company was not worried about the charges and that "the case is based on an irregularity in the documents."[46]
In February 2012, an alleged international olive oil scam occurred in which palm, avocado, sunflower and other cheaper oils were passed off as olive oil.[47] Spanish police said the oils were blended in an industrial biodiesel plant and adulterated in a way to hide markers that would have revealed their true nature. The oils were not toxic, however, and posed no health risk, according to a statement by the Guardia Civil. Nineteen people were arrested following the year-long joint probe by the police and Spanish tax authorities, part of what they call Operation Lucerna.[48]"



In addition according to the same link, the use of cheap pomice olive oil is widespread practice in restaurants.

These are desperate times for many Spanish businesses including restaurants.

I imagine the temptation to cut corners or take risks to maximise profits or ensure any profit at all, must now be greater than ever.

Fred James

Yes the stuff on the table could be cr*p but the stuff they use in their cooking, which is a much greater quantity than that that you put on your bread or salad
could be even worse and these new controls won't change that.

Crazy rule! It won't achieve anything as the Spanish, with their usual pragmatic attitude will ignore it - just like the badly worded initial anti-smoking law.

Retired in Euskadi

Damn! I was half afraid it might not. The email we received came in the format .rtf which in the list of formats accepted on this site, .rtf wasn't there! So I cut & pasted into a Word document.
Let me send you the link & then you'll be able to do it better than me.

chopera

Wasn't there an uproar about this in the UK earlier this year? I thought the EU backed down?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...customers.html

Fred James

They did but Spain wants to go along with it on their own.

Retired in Euskadi

Technology wins thus far; cannot attach the link as yet.
However, for what it's worth, of the 60 odd oils listed, the ones below came out as being NOT RECOMMENDED to consume.
EROSKI: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
HOJIBLANCA: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
COOSUR: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
YBARRA: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
CONSUM: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
ARTEOLIVA: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
CONDIS: Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
OLI SONE (Lidl): Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
ALIADA (El Corte Inglés): Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
MAEVA: Lampante 2,9 / Valoración: No apto para el consumo
SABOR Y ORIGEN (M): Virgen / Valoración: No recomendado
OLILÁN: Lampante / Valoración: No apto para el consumo

Fred James

That's not entirely correct.

Most of them were just not true Extra Virgin but, although not recommended to buy, were safe to consume.

Two of them were not recommended for consumption and they are Maeva and Olilan