The virgin olive oil that last week was immobilized in Extremadura and Andalusia is really a mixture of lampante oil and other refined oils for industrial use. This is confirmed by the analysis of the Extremadura Agri-food Laboratory received this week by the General Directorate of Public Health of the Extremadura Service, which has brought the case before the Justice for being a fraud and a crime against public health.
Lampante, explains Facua in a report, is a poorer quality virgin olive oil that is unfit for human consumption and is destined for refining for industrial use. It can be lampante because the olives have been collected from the ground or are too ripe, or due to deficiencies in the production process, which affect the acidity values or parameters that do not recommend its intake.
The oils involved were sold at gas stations, markets and retail stores in Extremadura and Andalusia under a total of 11 different brands: Acebuche, Virgen del Guadiana, Cortijo del Oro, La Campiña de Andalucía, Galiaceite 2022, La Abadía, Villa de Jerez, Don Jaén Oil 2019, Andalusian Empire, Varado and La Esmeralda.
This food alert has made it necessary to immobilize and withdraw 68,000 liters of oil from sale due to changes in the taste, smell, color and consistency of the product. The General Directorate of Public Health of the Extremadura Health Service (SES) learned of the oils that were mislabeled and unfit for consumption thanks to the complaint of two consumers.
The SES veterinarians and pharmacists appeared "immediately" at the retail establishments where they were purchased, verifying "important deficiencies" in the labeling and traceability of the product.
Facua reminds that those who have purchased any of the affected brands can return them to the corresponding establishment to request a refund of the price paid or their replacement with a new product in accordance with the regulations.
The health authorities ask consumers who have purchased these oils to refrain from consuming them and to contact the pharmaceutical and veterinary services of their health center to be informed about the evolution of the alert and actions to be carried out.
