Labelling
A con man passed off some 25 tons of industrial olive oil as edible, commercial oil, and distributed it in Israeli grocery stores, until he was caught in a raid…
Read MoreTwo more regions of Greece, Messinia and Chalkidiki, have submitted applications to the European Commission for a ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ (PDO) label for their extra virgin olive oil. Messinia…
Read MoreOlive oil lovers will soon be fully informed about where their oil was produced, after the competition watchdog acted on country-of-origin labels for the food. Australian Competition and Consumer Chairman…
Read MoreLet’s forget, for the moment, whether it’s a good idea to require foods that have been genetically engineered to show that on the labeling, as Proposition 37 on the November (US) ballot would do. There’s a curious provision in the initiative that’s causing more immediate concern. The wording has to do with when foods can be labeled “natural” and … it wouldn’t be utterly crazy to read the wording as saying that processed foods — whether they contain genetically engineered ingredients or not — could not be labeled as natural. One example opponents of the measure bring up is olive oil.
Read MoreAustralian manufacturers of branded foods could face strong competition over the next five years, suggests a new report, which predicts the share of private label products in supermarkets to increase rapidly over this period.
Read MoreAustralian olive growers will take their campaign for a fair market for olive oil to a meeting today in Adelaide. It will be a state and federal ministerial council meeting. Federal Opposition spokesman on Consumer Affairs Bruce Billson has called for the issue of misleading labelling of imported brands to be put on the agenda for the meeting, which is being chaired by state Minister for Consumers John Rau. Mr Rau said he was happy for the issue to be discussed under the general heading of food labelling, “an area of consumer law which requires constant vigilance”.
Read MoreA parliamentary push is on for greater protection of the local olive oil industry, calling for more transparent labelling to stop misleading information on imported olive oil products. NSW Nationals Senator John Williams spoke on the issue in the Senate recently, urging regulatory authorities to “act fast” and avoid the Australian olive industry’s potential decimation from “wrongdoing, misleading advertising and misleading labelling”. In his speech, Senator Williams also accused retail supermarket chains of continuing “to knowingly sell” extra-virgin olive oil products that are “misleading, deceptive and not allowed under Australian standards”.
Read MoreA South Australian company has been fined $13,000 for mislabelling its product as extra virgin olive oil, when it wasn’t. The oil was produced by the Big Olive Company, of Tailem Bend, between December 2010 and March 2011. It was sold in 500ml bottles labelled as Oz Olio. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has tested seven extra virgin olive oil labels, including imports, but at this stage has only fined The Big Olive.
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