` High Fail Rate in Czech Republic Quality Checks - Olive Oil Times
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High Fail Rate in Czech Republic Quality Checks

By Ofeoritse Daibo
Feb. 13, 2025 15:31 UTC
Summary Summary

An inspec­tion cam­paign in the Czech Republic found that nearly half of the olive oil sam­ples tested did not meet European qual­ity stan­dards and label­ing require­ments, with eight out of 18 sam­ples being non-com­pli­ant. The high­est level of label­ing non­con­for­mity was found among extra vir­gin olive oil brands in non-pro­ducer coun­tries, while nearly one-quar­ter of other olive oil grade sam­ples ana­lyzed failed to meet qual­ity and purity require­ments.

An inspec­tion cam­paign in the Czech Republic by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) found issues with nearly half of the olive oil sam­ples tested.

The small-scale test­ing ensured that var­i­ous coun­tries’ extra vir­gin and vir­gin olive oils met European qual­ity stan­dards and label­ing require­ments.

The results were alarm­ing: eight of 18 sam­ples were non-com­pli­ant. Seven of these sam­ples were not extra vir­gin olive oil as claimed on the pack­ag­ing but were of a lower grade. Additionally, one sam­ple had other label­ing defi­cien­cies.

See Also:An Accusation of Widespread Fraud Sparks Controversy in Spain

The non-com­pli­ant sam­ples orig­i­nated from Spain, Greece and Tunisia. SZPI has informed the author­i­ties in these coun­tries about the find­ings and ordered sell­ers to with­draw the impli­cated batches from the mar­ket. The agency will also ini­ti­ate admin­is­tra­tive pro­ceed­ings in the form of fines.

This inspec­tion cam­paign is part of SZPI’s ongo­ing efforts to ensure food safety com­pli­ance with European stan­dards. In 2023, 67 per­cent of the eval­u­ated olive oil sam­ples failed the inspec­tion, indi­cat­ing a slight improve­ment in com­pli­ance rates this year.

The Czech Republic, home to nearly 11 mil­lion peo­ple, does not pro­duce olive oil. According to International Olive Council data, the coun­try con­sumed 2,800 met­ric tons in the 2023/24 crop year, the low­est total since 2003/04.

In 2023, the last year for which a com­plete dataset is avail­able, the European Union con­ducted 4,357 label checks, iden­ti­fy­ing 724 olive oils that did not con­form to E.U. require­ments.

The high­est level of label­ing non­con­for­mity was found among extra vir­gin olive oil brands in non-pro­ducer coun­tries, with 124 of 472 sam­ples fail­ing to com­ply with E.U. mar­ket­ing stan­dards that ensure cor­rect nam­ing, ori­gin indi­ca­tion and stor­age infor­ma­tion.

See Also:Adulterated Olive Oil Kindles Debate Over Testing in Northern Cyprus

Extra vir­gin olive oils from pro­ducer coun­tries had a far lower level of non­con­for­mity – 492 of 3,299 sam­ples – while other olive oil grades from pro­ducer and non­pro­ducer coun­tries did not con­form in 18 per­cent of cases.

The E.U. also per­formed 3,023 cat­e­gory checks, iden­ti­fy­ing 1,030 sam­ples that did not con­form with the cat­e­gory.

Category checks ensure that olive oil meets the qual­ity require­ments for its grade and deter­mine purity. The E.U. uses cat­e­gory checks to iden­tify cases of fraud. Serious irreg­u­lar­i­ties dur­ing these checks may result in the with­drawal of the prod­uct from the mar­ket, fines on pro­duc­ers or dis­trib­u­tors and pros­e­cu­tion in the most extreme cases.

European author­i­ties found that 37 per­cent of extra vir­gin olive oil sam­ples from pro­ducer and non­pro­ducer coun­tries vio­lated E.U. rules. Producer coun­tries were respon­si­ble for 743 vio­la­tions from 2,036 sam­ples, while non-pro­ducer coun­tries had 125 vio­la­tions from 336 sam­ples.

Nearly one-quar­ter of other olive oil grade sam­ples ana­lyzed by the E.U. failed to meet qual­ity and purity require­ments, with author­i­ties flag­ging 162 of 651 sam­ples.

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