A while ago I heard a rumor that some Olive Oil sold in Taiwan has been known to be repackaged and blended with other (who knows what) oil before it hits the shelves.
As I’d already bought some Olive Oil that ‘seemed’ like a good deal (like 50-60% cost of other oils), I thought I’d compare it to good stuff next time I found some.
Basically, I go for 100% extra virgin olive oil, and I figured beyond that, the price is the next determining factor - it’s 100% after all, right? Attached is a photo of 2 bottles. The one on the left is the bottle that says ‘packaged in Taichung, Taiwan, from imported Spanish Olive Oil.’
I haven’t been that impressed by this Oil. It’s stickier and stinkier than other Olive Oils I’ve used, but until I compared it to the bottle on the right, I had no idea just how bad that TW packaged oil was. The bottle on the right is also Spanish Olive Oil, but it’s packaged in Spain, not Taiwan. The taste, color, viscosity and smell right out of the bottle is markedly different. When heated, the differences become even more distinct. The Tw packaged oil just smells awful in comparison.
Currently, in our household we have got needs for fairly strict purity with ingredients (medical reasons), so it got me thinking that there is a good chance here that we have been consuming some other shit that is blended with olive oil and is being passed off as 100% Extra Virgin olive oil. My biggest fear is that any blending would most likely involve the shittiest oil out there, which could possibly entirely synthetic for all I know.
So the next questions are: Has anyone else had cause for concern regarding fake ingredients? (In the last few years, I guess I’ve heard at least a half dozen media reports about fake foods/drinks made in Taiwan - so it’s not unusual here.)
How difficult would it be to test something like this?
Is there somewhere I can contact to hand over this sample for testing & investigation?