Olive Oil Board: More bogus olive oil this year due to higher prices.
Fake olive oil has been flooding the market ahead of Passover, says the Israel Olive Oil Board. The Board has issued a warning to the public on the problem.
Olive Oil Board deputy general director Gadi Horvitz said producers of fake olive oil were also active in the institutional market, including restaurants, hotels, and catering companies, as well as selling to independent supermarket chains. He said warnings had been sent to retail chains and stores where fake olive oil had been found, and some stores had removed the offending items from the shelves, but the problem was persisting ahead of Passover.
Horvitz said there was more fake olive oil on the market this year because of the high cost of oil. He said phony oil was produced in three ways: mixing refined olive oil with virgin olive oil, and selling it as extra virgin olive oil; mixing cheap vegetable oils with olive oil; and adding food coloring to soybean oil.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 4, 2006
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