| The evidence is overwhelming - Real extra | | | | canola or some other cheap refined oil. Mixed |
| virgin olive oil not only enhances the taste | | | | products have no quality stated or implied, |
| of food but is good for you, consider the | | | | they are entirely price sensitive. So the |
| following headlines:Olive oil 'acts like | | | | distributor, broker, importer or retailer |
| painkiller' - BBC Mediterranean Diet Adds | | | | needs to constantly offer either the cheapest |
| Years to Your Life (high intake of ... olive | | | | product or be very close to it for fear that |
| oil) - Oleic Acid Key to Olive Oil's | | | | at some point their supply will disappear and |
| Anti-Cancer Effect - Reuters.comHowever, | | | | they will be undersold due to the market |
| there is a dark side - fraud in the olive oil | | | | realities of working with this type of |
| marketplace:Olive oil's slippery supply line | | | | product.This is where the consumer gets |
| - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Are You Getting | | | | cheated - the labeling does not accurately |
| What You Pay For? - ABC News 7Online "A clear | | | | reflect what is in the bottle. Take for |
| case of fraud ..... almost all of the virgin | | | | example 'light olive oil' - what is 'light' |
| and extra virgin olive oil produced by large | | | | olive oil? Olive oil made from 'light' |
| commercial Italian olive oil plants" "of 73 | | | | olives? Light olive oil is 95% pomace, canola |
| olive oils ... in the U.S. Only 4 per cent | | | | or some other cheap oil mixed in with 5% |
| were pure olive oil. The rest were | | | | virgin olive oil. It stretches the |
| adulterated" - New York TimesThe health | | | | imagination to think that olive oil consumers |
| benefits of extra virgin olive oil only apply | | | | demand this type of product.B) Real extra |
| to real extra virgin olive oil and not to | | | | virgin olive oil obviously costs more to |
| fraudulently mislabeled products.As most | | | | produce than the cheap, mixed products. But |
| olive oil consumers know, the price of real | | | | olive oil consumers benefit because they get |
| extra virgin olive oil has risen | | | | what they pay for - the product. Real extra |
| dramatically. At the same time the quality of | | | | virgin olive oil is always that - real extra |
| the products being offered has deteriorated | | | | virgin olive oil - the product, the quality |
| dramatically. Logic would dictate that a | | | | does not vary. Olive oil consumers always get |
| significant percentage of olive oil consumers | | | | what they want and what they pay for - the |
| would prefer real extra virgin olive oil | | | | flavor enhancing attributes and all of the |
| instead of the over-priced, mislabeled and | | | | health benefits of real extra virgin olive |
| adulterated products that have flooded the | | | | oil.It should be noted that due to current |
| market.However the olive oil consumer's | | | | market factors, the price difference between |
| freedom to choose their product is limited to | | | | real extra virgin olive oil and the cheap |
| what is actually offered. | | | | mixes has pretty much closed and in some |
| | | | cases is now inverted. Real extra virgin |
| Food importers, distributors. brokers and | | | | olive oil being less expensive than the cheap |
| retailers essentially decide between two | | | | mixes.So, who gets to decide what olive oil |
| types of products when it comes to the | | | | consumers consume? |
| distribution of olive oil: A) A cheap mixed | | | | |
| product or B) Real extra virgin olive oil:A) | | | | We believe that this decision belongs to the |
| Mixed products have no guarantee of quality, | | | | consumer. Olive oil consumers should demand |
| the paperwork may say 'extra virgin olive | | | | real extra virgin olive oil. |
| oil' but what is in the bottle is pomace, | | | | |