Potential olive oil fraud and mislabeling cases in the EU hit a record high in the first quarter of 2024, as inflationary pressures drove an increase in fakes.

The Guardian reported July 29 that the cost of olive oil has more than doubled since 2018, because production was reduced by extreme weather caused by the climate crisis and other factors.

As the price has spiked, so has the number of “cross-border EU notifications”, which include mislabeling, potential fraud, and safety cases involving contaminated oils.

In the first quarter of 2018, just 15 cases were recorded by the EU. That rose more than three times, to a record 50 cases in the first three months of 2024, according to data released to the Guardian under freedom of information laws. But these are only the cases reported by EU member states, and the true scale of the fraud is likely much higher.

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The incident reports included oils contaminated with unauthorized substances such as pesticides, mineral oils and one case where glass fragments were discovered.

There were also many cases where extra virgin olive oil was judged to be adulterated, for example by mixing it with poorer or cheaper quality oils, cases where virgin olive oil was labeled as extra virgin, and several cases of misleading or false origin labelling.

Of the 182 olive oil fraud and non-compliance notifications sent to the EU since the start of 2023, 54 related to products from Italy, 41 from Spain and 39 from Greece.