Eurojust, with Italian and Serbian national authorities, has arrested nine suspects allegedly perpetrating a "transnational large-scale fraud in the production and trade of allegedly organic food and beverages from rotten apples." The apples were apparently used to create juice, jams and other canned food products adulterated with "mycotoxins and other toxic chemical substances, unsuitable for human consumption and dangerous for public health." The products were "refined with water and sugars, and falsely labelled and promoted as organic products of European origin."
Tag Archives Italy
Italian food producers reportedly disagree on how to define whether a food product is "made in Italy" in accordance with the country's attempt to distinguish food produced in Italy, such as parmesan cheese or prosecco, from similar foods produced outside of the country. The dispute centers on whether foods manufactured in Italy using foreign ingredients may be labeled as "Made in Italy." According to Reuters, Parmesan and prosecco producers argue against such foods receiving the rights to use the label, while pastamaker Barilla asserts that its foods are just as Italian because the company is Italian despite manufacturing about half of its pasta in plants outside of Italy. See Reuters, June 2, 2017. Issue 637
Italy has reportedly proposed new legislation that would require food manufacturers to include country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on all pre-packaged food labels or face fines of up to €18,000. Under the proposal, food-product labels must list an Italian address for the food’s production facility or indicate that the food is made outside of the country. Italy’s COOL initiative for dairy products takes effect April 18, 2017, and a similar initiative for pasta products is pending. See Food Navigator, April 10, 2017. Issue 631
The North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) has filed a lawsuit against Mehmet Oz of "The Dr. Oz Show" alleging he falsely told his audience in a May 2016 episode that 80 percent of olive oil sold in supermarkets is fraudulent. N. Am. Olive Oil Ass'n v. Oz, No. 283156 (Ga. Super. Ct., Fulton Cty., filed November 29, 2016). The complaint asserts that Oz told viewers: "So how does it become fake, if it's just fresh olive juice? . . . Adulterated oil . . . takes some of the real oil and mixes it with fake olive oil substitute. To make the fake olive oil, you take an oil with no flavor or color like sunflower oil, add some coloring in there like chlorophyll to give it that rich green hue, then you mix that in with some of the real stuff, into extra virgin olive oil, and then,…
Italian police have reportedly arrested 24 people in an operation targeting the Lo Russo crime syndicate in connection with a scheme to intimidate grocers and supermarkets in Naples into buying bread at prices considerably higher than the market standard. The police also seized three bakeries allegedly identified as Lo Russo-controlled. The crime group reportedly forced merchants to buy the bread or risk seeing their shops burned or damaged in other ways. Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Furciniti, commander of the organized crime unit in Naples of the national financial police corps, said the scheme was common for the group, noting, “This time it was bread, other times it has been buffalo mozzarella.” See Associated Press, June 27, 2016. Issue 610
A California state court has certified a class challenging the source and grade of Safeway Inc.’s olive-oil products, which are labeled as “extra virgin” and “Imported from Italy” despite being manufactured from olives grown and pressed outside that country. Kumar v. Safeway Inc., No. RG14726707 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty., order entered May 24, 2016). The plaintiff proposed two classes: one composed of consumers who purchased the products relying on the “extra virgin” label and another with consumers who relied on the “Imported from Italy” claims. The court assessed the classes in accordance with each requirement—ascertainability, commonality, typicality, adequacy and superiority—and found the plaintiff’s class definitions demonstrably met each standard. “Defendant’s argument that Plaintiff is required to demonstrate that class members have a common understanding of what ‘extra virgin’ means is unsupported by the authorities cited, and is not well taken,” the court noted. The plaintiff also leads a challenge…
Police in Turin, Italy, are reportedly investigating seven companies, including Bertolli, Carapelli and Santa Sabina—for allegedly selling “Extra Virgin” olive oils (EVOOs) that fail to meet EU standards to be labeled as such. The investigation was reportedly launched after consumer magazine Il Test notified the police of its taste-test results. The police then hired the Italian customs agency to test 20 of the most popular brands of EVOO in a laboratory, finding that nine brands from seven companies were lower quality oil. “For months now we have been increasing quality controls. In 2014 our inspectors carried out 6,000 checks and confiscated oil worth 10 million euros,” Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina told The Telegraph. “It’s vital to protect a sector as important as that of olive oil.” See The Telegraph, The Guardian and The Local, November 11, 2015. Issue 584
