Adulterated olive oil in Italy

Giuliano Foschini reports in the magazine L'Espresso on an olive oil scandal. "A hundred tons of suspect oil have been brought onto the market. The criminal ring was discovered accidentally by the police when consumers in Turin reported expensive but unpalatable olive oil to the authorities. Investigations revealed that the labels showed names of non-existent southern-Italian agricultural cooperatives, principally from the regions of Apulia and Campania. ... 39 suspects have been arrested. They belong to four Mafia-type clans who have divided the territory among them. Cheap oil was dyed green with chlorophyll, then marketed as 'Olio Extra Vergine' for four times the price. The adulterated bottles were shipped to northern Italy, and from there to the rest of Europe and the USA."

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