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Like a virgin: how to spot fake Italian olive oil

Olive oil has been a staple part of the Italian diet since time immemorial. But how do you tell the real deal apart from the cheap copies flooding the market?

Like a virgin: how to spot fake Italian olive oil
With Wednesday's news of widespread olive oil fraud in Italy, we asked Italians how to chose a quality product. Photo:Loic Venance/AFP

With Italy being the second largest producer of olive oil in the world – Spain is the first – it's no wonder the news on Wednesday that seven well-known Italian producers are being probed for allegedly doctoring the unrefined 'extra virgin' oil hit a nerve.

But how easy is it for consumers to spot the fake stuff from the real deal?

“It is very difficult to tell the difference between virgin and extra virgin olive oil,” Rolando Manfredini, a quality manager for Coldiretti, the Italian Farmers' Association, told The Local, insisting that one of the main factors is price.

“The main reason companies are faking the oil in the first place is because making extra virgin olive oil is very costly and time consuming.”

Typically, extra virgin olive oil sells for about 30-40 percent more than other varieties, a fact which is crucial when making choices at the supermarket.

Manfredini and his colleagues at Coldiretti recommend that any extra-virgin oil being sold for less than €7 should set alarm bells ringing.

But price isn't the only indicator. Indeed, some of the more expensive oils implicated in the scandal have long enjoyed the respect of consumers – so what can be done?

“Customers must be more vigilant when looking at labels, which can help them choose a genuine product,” Manfredini said.

At the high-end delicatessen Alimentari Placidi in central Rome, food savvy Italians fill their baskets with what they hope are quality products.

But do they read the labels?

“I always read the labels and choose an oil that's made with 100 percent Italian olives,” said 42-year-old shopper Irene.

A common way companies dupe customers is by mixing Italian extra virgin olive oil with inferior oils from different countries, and then writing 'extra virgin' on the bottle.

“If you see that's the case steer clear,” Irene warned.

“I also check labels to see if the olives were harvested in the last year,” she added, explaining that oil is a fresh product and its quality deteriorates quickly as it ages more than a year.

Perhaps Italy's gourmand shoppers can choose a good oil by reading the labels, but 51-year old delicatessen owner Paolo Castelli said that even his expert eye had failed to spot a fake extra virgin.

“I didn’t know anything about the scandal,” he said.

“It’s very embarrassing and I’m worried that customers will think we knew. We select brands to stock based on how well they sell, and have in the past stocked some of the brands that are accused of wrongly labeling their products.”

EU law requires all olive oil labelled as extra virgin to undergo a stringent taste and aroma tests, but in spite of rigid controls, inferior oils still manage to pass themselves off as extra virgin.

According to 38-year-old Italian chef Matteo Luchetta, customers should still be able to spot a true extra virgin oil thanks to its unmistakeable fruity flavour and aroma.

“Olives are a fruit, so good olive oil needs to strike a balance between fruitiness and bitterness. A poor oil will leave a lingering, slightly sour taste.”

Luchetta lamented the rise of cheap, low-quality industrial oils, warning that if consumers were't careful the wonderful flavour of real Italian olive oil could soon be lost forever.

“If we accept imitations we risk becoming accustomed to the taste of these oils and might even start to enjoy them more than the real thing.”

But the chef insisted quality olive oil would remain a key ingredient in Italian cuisine, “luckily Italians are still quite good at telling the difference.” 

By Ellie Bennett and Patrick Browne

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FOOD AND DRINK

Do Italians really eat pasta every day?

Pasta is the foundation of Italian cuisine and Italians have a reputation for eating it nearly every day. But is this reality or myth?

Do Italians really eat pasta every day?

Pasta is the cornerstone of Italian cuisine and an essential staple of Italians’ diet, hence the popularity of the adage Toglietemi tutto ma non la pasta! (‘Take everything away from me except pasta’).

But there is a widespread belief among foreign nationals that people in the bel paese eat it every single day of the week. 

Is this reality or myth?

According to a survey from research platform YouGov Italia, ‘only’ 17 percent of Italians eat pasta every day or at least six days a week. 

The majority of Italians (37 percent) consume pasta two to three times a week, while 30 percent say they eat it four to five times a week. 

Finally, 8 percent eat pasta just once a week.

While the survey seems to disprove the claim that Italians generally eat pasta every day (only a minority does), does that mean that they are not as big pasta eaters as we may have originally thought?

Not really. 

Italians are still the leading pasta consumers in the world as the average person in the country eats some 23.1 kilograms of it every year (that’s nearly two kilograms a month).

READ ALSO: Ask an Italian: How do you sauce pasta properly?

For context, people in neighbouring France and Germany only consume 8.3 and 7.9 kg per capita a year, whereas the average American eats about 9 kg every year.

Further, yearly per capita consumption in the UK stands at an average of just 3.5 kg, according to a report from pasta maker Barilla.

So, while they may not have it every day, Italians do eat quite a lot of pasta over the course of a year. 

But how do they never get tired of it? 

One of the main reasons behind Italians’ unbreakable bond with the high-carb food is variety. 

Italians are extremely creative when it comes to pasta and they rarely eat the same dish twice in a row as they like to experiment with a wide range of recipes and sauces.

READ ALSO: Ten golden rules for cooking pasta like an Italian

Further, there are over 350 types of pasta in Italy, which means that you could potentially eat a different pasta shape almost every day of the year.

Another reason why most Italians have pasta multiple times a week is that they tend to eat it in moderation, steering well clear of potential carb overloads. 

While they may have a large, high-calorie pasta dish (for instance, lasagne or pasta al ragù) on weekends or on special occasions, people in the country generally go for lighter recipes and sauces on normal days, with portions generally going from 80 to 120 grams per person.

Also, Italians very rarely eat pasta twice a day, with the majority of people having it for lunch and then opting for a non-carb-based dish in the evening.

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