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Research shows that products sold as extra virgin olive oil were actually soybean oil
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11/18/2020 – 10h20
The Ministry of Agriculture communicated to Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets) the prohibition of marketing products investigated as fraudulent and falsely declared as extra virgin olive oil. In all, nine brands must be recalled, the ministry said in a statement.
The government action stems from an investigation carried out by the Civil Police of Espírito Santo, through the Decon (Police Department for Consumer Protection), which dismantled, last week, a criminal organization specialized in the counterfeiting of olive oils.
According to the investigation, the products sold as extra virgin olive oil were actually soybean oil.
“The adulteration and falsification of olive oil is not exclusively a consumer fraud, but a crime against public health,” Hugo Caruso, the general coordinator of Plant Quality of the Ministry of Agrarian Defense, said in the note.
Trademarks
The brands investigated, which would be fictitious labels, are: Casalberto, Conde de Torres, Donana (Premium), Flor de Espanha, La Valenciana, Porto Valencia, Serra das Oliveiras, Serra de Montejunto and Torezani (Premium). The investigated created the brands, supposedly imported, and offered them for sale in the domestic market.
The Ministry informs establishments that have olive oil brands under suspicion of fraud in stock, or exposed for sale, to immediately inform the Federal Superintendencies of Agriculture of the States of the volume of product and the plan to destroy the merchandise from a qualified company. by a state environmental agency or an oil and packaging recycler.
Failure to comply with the prohibition may result in a fine to the owner of the merchandise, a complaint to the Federal Public Ministry for possible civil and criminal liability and the formalization of a Report to the Civil Police indicating the person in charge of the commercial establishment.
Operation
Last Wednesday (11), Decon do Espírito Santo launched Operation Havana, which carried out five search and seizure orders and an arrest warrant in three residences and two companies, located in the municipalities of Vila Velha and Cariacica.
Decon is investigating an olive oil adulteration and state tax evasion scheme, which has been in existence for about five years.
The product under suspicion of adulteration was marketed in Grande Vitória and in the interior of Espírito Santo. There is also information that the products were shipped to other states. According to the agency, those investigated mixed the oil, put it in bottles and sold it as if it were a more expensive product.
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