Olive Oil News

Spanish police this week arrested 19 people allegedly linked to a complex network engaged in multi-million euro olive oil fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. According to Diaro Jaén, the police – who swooped on Wednesday after a year-long probe by a Madrid-based economic crime unit – believe that companies involved in the ‘ring’ had been selling low quality olive oil as extra virgin.

THE fresh produce industry must unite to meet the threat posed by the major supermarket chains’ discounting of fruit and vegetables, says Adelaide Produce Market chairman David Schirripa. “If the promotion of fruit and veg purchased from independent fruit and vegetable retailers and independent supermarkets is not made a priority, this market and the ones like it around Australia will go into a slow decline.”

Retailers need to work with manufacturers and regulators to track the impact of systems such as traffic light labelling on consumer purchasing behaviour of food and drink products, stresses a Brussels-based consumer information group as it releases a new report.

The discovery of a ‘nourishing gene’ that controls how nutrients are distributed in plants and crops could offer hope for improved crop yield and increased food production, say researchers.
The gene is involved in the movement of nutrients from plant to seed, so could we perhaps see an even more nutritious olive into the future – Ed?

It’s not long now until the next edition of Olivegrower & Processor hits letterboxes across Australia and New Zealand. Another jam-packed edition, the January-February magazine has all the latest industry news and lots of really useful, practical information. And the message we’re getting is that increasingly, that’s just what our industry needs right now – more sharing of knowledge and information. That’s the aim of the Olivegrower/Friday Olive Extracts team, so if you’ve got any handy hints, good advice or suggestions to share – or any questions you’d like answered – drop editor Gerri Nelligan a line at [email protected].

Pest and diseases specialist Dr Vera Sergeeva is well-known in our industry, both for her research and regular communications with growers across Australia regarding samples and identification queries. She’s got a new email address, so anyone wanting to contact Dr Vera should now do so at: [email protected].