Bertolli settles class action suit for $7,000,000

It costs a lot of money to produce premium quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. When prices seem too good to be true, they usually are.

Click to watch a short news segment about the lawsuit

In this case a complaint was filed in 2004 that alleged Deoleo USA, the manufacturer of Bertolli olive oil, misrepresented its products by labeling them as “Imported from Italy.”

Only some of the olive oil was produced in Italy from olives grown in Italy… the rest of the olive oil came from other countries like Tunisia, Turkey and Chile and was later mixed into the Italian olive oil.

The plaintiffs also questioned how the olive oil could be extra virgin quality after having been exposed to sunlight and heat and then further degrading while sitting on store shelves in clear bottles.

The settlement requires Deoleo not use the phase “imported from Italy” unless its products are only manufactured by using olives grown and pressed in Italy. The company also will adopt stronger testing practices to make sure its products conform with extra virgin olive oil standards and package it only in dark brown or green bottles. If you purchased Bertolli in the past, you may be able to get some of your money back. Check here.

Majority of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Doesn’t Meet Standards

University of California–Davis researchers tested commercial olive oil in 2010 and found that 69 percent of imported “extra-virgin” samples failed to meet international standards. In fact CBS 60 Minutes did an expose on Italian Olive Oil Fraud.

Italy’s anti-fraud police squad in Turin is examining whether seven well-known olive oil brands – Carapelli, Bertolli, Santa Sabina, Coricelli, Sasso, Primadonna and Antica Badia – have been selling lesser-quality virgin olive oil as “extra virgin” olive oil.

Here’s the full article on CNBC and another article on the scandal from The Guardian.

For some Italian producers, their purest extra virgin olive oil is really something else.

You Can Trust Galilee Green!

The experts recommend that you buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil direct from a small producer that you trust.

• One hundred percent of Galilee Green olive oil is produced from olives that are grown locally here in the Galilee.
• Our olive oil is cold pressed and unfiltered and meets international standards to be considered “Extra Virgin” (Acidity level is less and .8 percent)
• We store our olive oil in stainless steel tanks and then transfer it to opaque tins – which is the best protection from light – better than dark glass bottles.
• Galilee Green is shipped directly from our air-conditioned warehouses in the Galilee to your home! (It doesn’t degrade for months on supermarket shelves.)
• Additionally our EVOO is certified Kosher by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as well as Badatz Beit Yoseph – Mehadrin, which means all Bible-mandated laws are observed in its production.

Even though we have the extra expense of Kosher Supervision and greater shipping costs, we still manage to provide our olive oil to you at competitive prices to other quality, boutique producers of premium 100% extra virgin olive oil.

Galilee Green Prices are Competitive