"The Olive Oil Seems Fine. Whether It's Italian Is the Issue," by Clifford J. Levy, appears in today's NY Times.

>"The Olive Oil Seems Fine. Whether It's Italian Is the Issue,"<

I had the reverse problem. It was labelled "Extra Virgin" but turned out to be a viscous, tasteless, oily product of indeterminate origin.

NYCFS, can you give us the URL?

You can find the article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/07/in...pe/07tusc.html

Fraud seems a bit too strong an indictment -- but apparently this has been going on for years. Italy supposedly imports oil from Spain. I enjoyed the article -- thanks for drawing my attention to it.

Croatia uses Italian olive oil to soften their olive oil because it is so spicy (strong)

Well perhaps they're indirectly using Spanish olive oil per that Times article.

I read the article. The Carapelli oil I bought in a pinch [when I couldn't find my usual Colavita] is "imported" from Italty and according to the codes on the back contains oil from Italy, Greece & Turkey.

This has been a bone of contention between the Spaniards and Italians for decades. The Italians process the olives even if they don't grow them. That's why most imported olive oils will say "Product of Italy".

I apologize for not offering the url from the NY Times. Sometimes I'm too busy or distracted to do the extra cut and paste. Thank you, 111op, for providing it.

I always try to cut and paste the full title and include the author's name. The NY Times web page offers a very good search feature.

<i>&quot;Fraud seems a bit too strong an indictment&quot;</i>

I did not choose the word &quot;fraud&quot; in the title of this thread but, rather, pulled the word from the sentence, &quot;olive oil fraud is not uncommon in Italy,&quot; which appears in the third last paragraph of the article. My apologies, too, for not putting the thread title in quotes.

Your title scared me for a moment there.

I always look to make sure that it's a &quot;product of Italy&quot; and not just &quot;imported from.&quot;

Turkey has been an &quot;Italian &quot;olive oil for years. This has been written so many times. Labels are important to read.

http://www.samcooks.com/flavor/TurkishOliveOil.htm