World's Largest Olive Oil Producer Responds to Fraud Allegations

By Ylenia Granitto

Nov. 13, 2015 09:27 UTC

Summary

Deoleo, the Spanish food group that owns Italian olive oil brands Bertolli, Carapelli, and Sasso, responded to fraud allegations by emphasizing that their products meet high quality standards and comply with all food safety regulations. Despite investigations by Italian authorities, Deoleo has requested a countercheck to verify the results of sensory analysis tests conducted on their olive oils.

After the clamor created by the case of the famous brands of olive oil distributed in Italian supermarkets accused of fraud, Deoleo which manages the brands Bertolli, Carapelli and Sasso, promptly responded.

The three brands, despite their Italian names, have been since 2008 the property of the Spanish food group, which in a press release, dismissed the allegations, emphasizing some points.

These controls, even if carried out by professional tasters, are considered inappropriate for many aspects.- Deoleo

Deoleo said its “products and processes meet the highest quality standards” and that the company “strictly respects all the laws and regulations relating to food security in all the countries in which it operates.”

Regarding the facts investigated by the prosecutor in Turin, the company declared that the chemical and physical test conducted by the chemical laboratory of the customs agency in Genoa, had shown that their products “are in accordance with the Italian law about extra virgin olive oil and meet all the physical and chemical parameters (peroxide value, free fatty acids and spectrophotometric analysis of K232 and K270, total esters, ethyl esters).”
See Also:Italian Prosecutor Accuses Seven Brands of Fraud
Afterward, Deoleo affirmed that the incriminated products, based on the date of packing, were completely compliant both with physical and chemical analysis and with tasting.

Considering that “the tasting carried out by the Italian police is a sensory analysis, in which a group of experts appreciates just the smell and taste of olive oil,” the group concluded that “the checks commissioned by the Prosecutor and carried out both by the magazine The Test and subsequently by the NAS, are based exclusively on a tasting of the product,” and in substance, “these controls, even if carried out by professional tasters, are considered inappropriate for many aspects, as the method of analysis subjective, non-repeatable and non-reproducible.”

Since the Italian law establishes a legal term of 30 days to request a rebuttal, Deoleo has already requested a countercheck, to verify the results of the tasting made by NAS.

Today, the chief prosecutor, Armando Spataro, transferred the investigation to the Prosecutors of Florence, Genoa, Spoleto and Velletri, the places of production of olive oils under investigation.

World's Largest Olive Oil Producer Responds to Fraud Allegations

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