Italian Olive Oil: Not Always "Made in Italy"

There are a couple of products that -- at least from my point of view as an ex-pat living in Italy -- are "thoroughly" Italian: mozzarella cheese...wine...and olive oil. I can take most everything else in this country with a grain of salt, but those three products -- well -- how could they be any thing BUT Italian-made?

Silly me. What the heck was I thinking?

According to an article in the 7 May edition of the Italian daily La Reppublica (www.larepubblica.it) a just-introduced law for countries in the European Union (EU) insists that products are labeled identifying where they are REALLY from.

Well duh - that's a no-brainer, because if the label says "Made in Italy" than that's obviously where the product was made. Right?

Think again.

The La Repubblica article points out that large olive oil brands, such as Filippo Berio and Bertolli -- which have long cultivated the image that its oil comes from rustic, rolling groves in the Italian countryside -- had to admit recently that their olive oil often arrives in Italy via tanker trucks from destinations as diverse as Tunisia, Turkey, Greece and Spain.

Say it ain't so!

According to an article in the Wednesday edition of the London Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk), current EU laws stipulate that foreign olive oil can be sold as Italian olive oil if it is cut with a small amount of the domestic product.

Only four per cent of olive oil being exported out of Italy is pure Italian oil.

Actually though, the new EU law is a good thing. Because new labeling laws let you know what you're actually buying. For example -- according to the Telegraph -- with the law change, every bottle of Italian olive oil will have to declare which farm it comes from, and the press that extracted the oil. In the case of blended oils, a precise breakdown of the various oils will be listed.

What has come to light is that even though Italy is famous for its olive oil, it is the second largest producer in Europe behind Spain. The awful truth is that Italy cannot even produce enough oil to satisfy its domestic customers. Last year, the crop was down 13 per cent to 700,000 tons, while Italians used 835,000 tons.

Honestfoods.com reports that the new EU labeling laws also will impact the olive oil that is marked as "extra virgin." Extra virgin olive oil is the first oil that gets squeezed out the olives. In other words -- the really good stuff: better color, better taste, better for you. After this first pressing, what is left over, the "pumice," still has some oil in it. So it is pressed again, or solvent extracted, to yield "Pure" or "Virgin" Olive Oil. Not quite as good, not nearly as expensive an Extra Virgin and not as good for you. So it makes sense/cents (as in "dollars and cents") that you want to mark as much oil as possible as being "Extra Virgin."

Well not any more.

This is not to say that you can't find olive oil "made in Italy" there are plenty of small olive press collectives that make the best darn olive oil you've ever had. But on a larger scale, a little is not nearly enough.

The International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com) meanwhile noted that Italy is likely to have to import more olive oil this year to counter a smaller national harvest and growing international demand for its own exports. Although European demand for olive oil is buoyant, Spanish and Italian producers see the United States and China as crucial high-growth markets. The spread of healthier eating habits in the United States and a growing number of Chinese with larger salaries and international tastes are fueling olive oil sales in both countries.

Honestfoods.com doesn't even speculate. They come right out and say that most of Italy's olive oil comes from Chile! "...Chile's olive season is six months after Italy's, so the oil is not only better, it is fresher..."

Honestfoods.com also ships directly from Chile. So you know exactly where you are purchasing your oil.

And that's the honest-to-goodness truth.