Title: The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
Headings: The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
The Olive Oil Scam: If 80% Is Fake, Why Do You Keep Buying It?
Content: A study last year by the National Consumer League found that six of 11 bottles of extra virgin olive oil from three major retailers—Whole Foods, Safeway and Giant—failed to meet extra virgin requirements. “America is the dumping ground of all those fraudulent operations,” Gaea's David Neuman explained. “ There are not enough resources to control the over 350,000 tons of olive oil entering the country. That's why, even after the scandals, adulterated olive oil bottles are still on supermarket shelves.” Neuman thinks that the problems with fake olive oils have been going on for so long that consumers have become accustomed to buying bad oils at low prices. “Although consumers are embarrassed to admit it, they are supporting the situation,” he says. “ The chain stores keep buying because it sells and everybody has become addicted to the low prices." That has serious effects on the market of authentic virgin and extra virgin olive oil that naturally are more expensive. “ There's no incentive for grocery stores to get the good stuff," he added. The situation has been exacerbated by Xylella Fastidiosa, a bacteria that kills olive trees - one million so far in Puglia, the largest olive oil producer - and threatens to extend to the rest of Italy and other Mediterranean producers.