3,200 Gallons of Untraceable Olive Oil Confiscated in Tuscany

By Marco Marino

Dec. 3, 2014 10:55 UTC

Summary

The Italian State Forestry Corps seized a truck carrying 3,200 gallons of olive oil with fraudulent documentation in Siena, coming from Foggia, Apulia, likely to be falsely labeled as Tuscan olive oil. The Forestry Corps confiscated the olive oil load and poured it into tanks for analysis, monitoring shipments throughout Tuscany to prevent fraud against consumers and maintain market regularity.

Officers of the Italian State Forestry Corps inspect a truck from Foggia, in Apulia in an effort to clamp down on fraud.

In the middle of the night on November 14, in Siena, the Italian State Forestry Corps (CFS) seized a truck carrying 3,200 gallons of olive oil with documentation stating “Extra Virgin Olive Oil — 100% Italian — 2014 – 2015 Harvest.“

The load came from Foggia, in Apulia, but it was not accompanied by the required documentation indicating the origin and producor of oil. Once arrived, it would probably have been bottled as Tuscan olive oil while having other origins.

There were also inconsistencies between the shipment’s destination on the transport document and the real route of the truck as recorded by the tachograph. The truck had traveled for four days without a clear destination before being stopped by the officers near the Bettolle motorway exit, reports said, heading toward a well-known Tuscan olive oil producer. The latter said he did not have any business relations with the supplier from Foggia.

The circumstances lead the Forestry Corps to confiscate the olive oil load, as a precautionary measure, and to pour it into two tanks provided by an oil producer from Montepulciano.

Chemical-physical analyses measuring the alkyl esters have revealed that the olive oil was of good quality and originated from Apulian groves.

An official statement by the State Forestry Corps said they are monitoring the handling of olive and olive oil shipments throughout Tuscany to prevent, and possibly punish, frauds against consumers and market regularity.

Controls are especially important in a year like 2014, characterized by a shortage of oil due to poor climate conditions and the olive fly.