“the US is the largest olive oil importer in the world, bringing in 375 thousand metric tons between 2021–2022. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with inspecting these imported foods. However, they openly state on their website that only one to two percent of the foods imported into this country are physically inspected.”
and:
“A 2010 study done out of University of California Davis really brought public attention to this issue, finding that 69 percent of imported olive oils didn’t meet international standards of identity for extra virgin olive oil.”
1 liter of olive oil weighs about 2 pounds, so 826,875,000 pounds of olive oil = 413,437,500 liters of olive oil brought into the US between 2021 and 2022 and as much as 70% to 80% of that has been adulterated in some way…
The problem is way bigger than confiscating 5,200 liters.
5,200 litres is NOTHING given the overall scale of the problem.
Is black market olive oil a big issue for the average Spaniard or Italian?
It’s a big issue globally.
What’s the problem?
Low quality olive oil, and in some cases entirely counterfeit olive oil, being branded and sold as extra virgin olive oil.
It’s a known problem globally:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the-olive-oil-scam-if-80-is-fake-why-do-you-keep-buying-it/?sh=7eb5ee4a639d
https://www.wellandgood.com/fake-olive-oil/
Two good stats here:
“the US is the largest olive oil importer in the world, bringing in 375 thousand metric tons between 2021–2022. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with inspecting these imported foods. However, they openly state on their website that only one to two percent of the foods imported into this country are physically inspected.”
and:
“A 2010 study done out of University of California Davis really brought public attention to this issue, finding that 69 percent of imported olive oils didn’t meet international standards of identity for extra virgin olive oil.”
1 liter of olive oil weighs about 2 pounds, so 826,875,000 pounds of olive oil = 413,437,500 liters of olive oil brought into the US between 2021 and 2022 and as much as 70% to 80% of that has been adulterated in some way…
The problem is way bigger than confiscating 5,200 liters.