olive oils sold in France have “an anomaly rate still too high”, warns the repression of fraud

Labeling problems, unfounded mentions, misleading commercial practices… The olive oils marketed in France present “an anomaly rate still too high”alerted, Wednesday, June 7, the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) on the basis of checks carried out in 2021. The DGCCRF claims to want to maintain “active monitoring” of the sector, already the subject of several investigations which concerns some 110,000 tonnes of olive oil consumed each year in France, she specified in a press release.

Of the 211 establishments checked (producers, distributors and retailers, etc.) in the main producing departments as well as in Ile-de-France, 39% presented anomalies. And the anomaly rate exceeds 80% for the 130 products analyzed with the objective of determining the categories of olive oil, their origins or the presence of mixed oils.

Among the problems encountered, the repression of fraud cites in particular the upgrading of virgin olive oils to extra virgin olive oils, labeling defects concerning the origin or the producing entity. Or again, the presence of pesticides not authorized in organic farming, anomalies concerning nutritional declarations, non-compliance with provisions relating to consumer information (date of durability for example) or even misleading commercial practices.

In total, these anomalies gave rise to four criminal reports, 17 injunctions for bringing the labeling information back into compliance and 65 warnings.