With the recent uproar over massive olive oil fraud, whereby olive oil labeled and sold as 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil was found to actually contain blended olive oil from other countries, there is a need for new methods to control this deception.
Last month a massive fraud was unmasked by the State Forestry Corps, and the Anti-Mafia Directorate of Bari, which discovered that 7,000 tons of olive oil sold as ‘100% Italian’ extra virgin olive oil were actually blended oils from non-EU countries such as Syria, Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia. – Olive Oil Times.
This excessive counterfeiting of olive oil has led researchers in Zurich to come up with new measures for identifying “fake” olive oil for the consumer. New research from ETH Zürich explains that chemists have found that they can dissolve synthetic DNA into oils to tag the product. This would allow officials performing tests on olive oil to know exactly how much of the DNA should be in a sample, and if they found less they could safely conclude that the oil was adulterated.
According to the researchers the DNA can be coded to reveal the producer and other key information about the oil. The “synthetic fossils” technique used would also be a very cost effective method and these identifying tags, so to speak, can last for up to two years before becoming damaged. Researchers also state that this synthetic DNA would not alter the olive oil in anyway and is considered safe to consume.
This method would enable easy identification and ensure that what is labeled on the bottle is actually inside the bottle and will show if an oil is blended with a lower grade oil or if any chemicals have been added.
Sources:
- London International Olive oil Competitions 2018 - December 15, 2017
- 3 Chocolate & Olive Oil Recipes For Heart Health - December 8, 2017
- 10 Awesome Local Olive Oil Packaging Designs - November 24, 2017