Labelling problems, unfounded statements, misleading commercial practices: olive oils marketed in France have "a rate of anomaly still too high," said Wednesday the repression of fraud (DGCCRF), based on controls conducted in 2021. The DGCCRF said it wanted to maintain "active surveillance" of the sector, already the subject of several investigations, because of a rate of non-compliance that "still remains very high," it said in a statement.
Of the 211 establishments inspected (producers, distributors and retailers,...) in the main producing departments and in Île-de-France, 39% had 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.
Origin labelling defects
Among the problems encountered, the repression of fraud cites in particular the downgrading of virgin olive oils to extra virgin olive oils, labelling defects concerning the origin or the producing entity, the presence of pesticides not authorized in organic farming, anomalies concerning nutritional declarations, non-compliance with provisions relating to consumer information, such as the date of durability for example, or deceptive marketing practices.
These anomalies resulted in four criminal reports, 17 injunctions for reinstatement of labelling particulars and 65 warnings. According to the DGCCRF, some 110,000 tons of olive oil are consumed each year in France.