Many olive oils are cheap counterfeits made by the Mafia?

Is your olive oil made by the Mafia?

I received an email about olive oil from Mike Geary, a weight loss guru. It’s so fascinating I’m going to quote it here:

“In recent years, many of America’s most respected media, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS News and scores of others have reported the appalling news that many olive oils in the US are cheap counterfeits made by the Mafia.

For example, last year 60 Minutes ran an explosive exposé showing how the Mafia has infiltrated the olive oil business, adulterating olive oil with much cheaper ingredients, such as nut and seed oils, to make obscene profits when they sell it as “extra virgin” (the highest grade). According to 60 Minutes, you now face a “sea of fakes” when you shop for olive oil.

This is a serious concern because when criminals make olive oil, they couldn’t care less about your health or your family’s.

In his New York Times best-selling book, Extra Virginity, journalist and olive oil expert Tom Mueller warns of contaminants and even cancer-causing agents in fake olive oils, as follows:

“Italian investigators have found hydrocarbon residues, pesticides, and other contaminants in fake oils, and pomace oil, a common adulterant, sometimes contains mineral oil as well as PAHs, proven carcinogens that can also damage DNA and the immune system. Then there’s the 1981 case of toxic oil syndrome in Spain, when rapeseed oil adulterated with an industrial additive, sold as olive oil, killed eight hundred people and seriously injured thousands more.”

Mike’s recommendation: You never want to feed your family fake olive oil made by the Mafia. But how can you avoid it? Mike recommends buying from a supplier who goes the extra mile of having all their oils independently lab certified to be 100% pure extra virgin. He goes on to introduce his readers to www.freshpressedoliveoil.com

Fascinating, eh?
Gary