Olive oil fraud, adulteration, has been a part of this business since 1,000 years before Christ. "We've heard it for all the years we've been in business — olive oil fraud, adulteration, has been a part of this business since 1,000 years before Christ," he said. "There's always been people who try to take bad oil and fob it off as good oil, it's just getting more sophisticated." "Bad" oil is not extra-virgin olive oil — it is sometimes olive oil cut with cheaper soy, hazelnut, canola or older or poorly-made olive oil, McArthur said"We welcome every initiative they can bring to make the consumer experience a lot more trustworthy, a lot more honest," McArthur said. The olive crop in Europe was poor this year so phony olive oil could be more abundant than ever, experts say.

Source: CBC News February 13, 2019 15:56 UTC