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Virginal and pure

GOVERNMENTS and researchers are actively seeking ways to ensure that expensive olive oil is not counterfeit or adulterated.

One of the more advanced proposals comes from ETH researchers (based in Zurich) which consists of including tiny magnetic DNA particles encapsulated in a silica casing with the oil.

Why should you care about counterfeit or adulterated olive oil? Apart from not wanting to waste money, there are different grades of olive oil which range from edible oils to those not suitable for human consumption.

In fact, counterfeit oils have become big business in recent years with one European Union anti-fraud trafficker saying that the profits from counterfeit olive oil are “comparable to cocaine trafficking, with none of the risks”.

The purest grades are virgin and extra-virgin, which is produced using mechanical means only. The grade not suitable for human consumption is lampante oil, which is also extracted by mechanical means but not suitable for consumption because it comes from bad fruit or careless processing. Lampante oil is used for burning in lamps.

Governments are thus seeking ways to prevent “food fraud”, which usually involves misleading the purchaser of the true nature, composition and/or quality of the products being exchanged between the seller and the purchaser.

In the olive oil industry, adulteration often includes the dilution of olive oil with various seed oils and this affects the quality and commercial value of the product.

Keeping it pure

As a result, several options are being considered to protect the olive oil industry (both the producers and consumers) including legislation, tiny magnetic DNA particles and standards. In South Africa, we are developing voluntary standards for olive oil products.

The standards, which are developed through consensus among all stakeholders (olive growers, olive oil producers, table olive producers, tree nurseries and olive importers), will help address the threats being faced.

The first standard undergoing development is South African National Standard (SANS) 1377 for olive oil and olive pomace oil, which should be published prior to the end of 2014.

This approach is not unique to South Africa and in 2011, Australia initiated a process of developing a standard for olive oil in an attempt to address cases of mislabelling practices discovered in their market.

The DNA particles take the labelling issue a step further through being able to store tons of information such as the oil's source and quality.

If food fraud were suspected, the particles added at the place of origin could be extracted from the oil and analysed, enabling a definitive identification of the producer. Robert Grass of ETH Zurich says that the method is equivalent to a label that cannot be removed.

Since 2011, South Africa has imported olive oil to the value of more than R160m annually, so I think initiatives such as SANS 1377 and the DNA particles that will not only protect our local industry but our consumers as well, are certainly worthwhile.

Sources

Main, D. (2014). DNA Particles Could Prevent Olive Oil Counterfeiting. Popular Science [Online].

Vonarburg, B. (2014). Protecting olive oil from counterfeiters. R&D Mag [Online].

 - Fin24

* Geoffrey Chapman is a guest columnist and trade policy expert at the SABS. Views expressed are his own.


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