“What does the average consumer understand when looking at the oil shelf?” This is the question that arises Professor Maria Lisa Clodoveo, professor at the University of Bari, present in many organizations linked to the world of oil as well as a scientific communicator with consolidated experience in matters of health related to the consumption of extra virgin olive oil.
A question posted under photos of price labels from a well-known supermarket chain where olive oil, that is, the oil obtained through a refining process using chemical solvents, is not only placed on the shelf next to theextra virgin olive oil, but ad a price of a few cents difference so much so as to induce the consumer unaware of the difference to prefer one rather than the other. Not only that, paired together there is then an extra virgin produced with a blend of olive oils of European origin and a 100% Italian one. The difference in this case? Just 26 cents.
“The price of oil – explains the teacher – can act as a powerful indicator of quality perception. Consumers tend to associate higher prices with better quality, assuming that a higher price reflects a better process or superior raw materials. So, leaving aside the small change: are refined oil, non-Italian extra and Italian extra worth 10 euros? How can the consumer understand the difference between a product extracted exclusively by mechanical means and a product that has undergone chemical treatments? What value do we give to Italian companies, to the richness of biodiversity and to a system of controls that is more rigid than in the rest of Europe?”
Yet, Clodoveo points out, it is written in capital letters “Olive Oil”. But how many know the difference between “olive oil” e “extra virgin olive oil”? Really very few. With the addition, the teacher highlights “that the average time to choose a product on the shelf is 23 seconds and each category of food requires knowledge and expertise… An impossible expectation for an average citizen: average income, average level of education, average nutritional awareness, average ability to read labels and convert them into selection criteria”.
Who profits from this mocking game of prices? Certainly not Italian olive growers and millers! Nor the health of consumers, considering the benefits that extra virgin ensures to the human body in the prevention of neurodegenerative, oncological, cardiac diseases and more.
“75% of the extra virgin olive oil (Italian or foreign) sold in Italy – is the bitter conclusion of Clodoveo – it is marketed by large-scale distribution. There are hundreds of thousands of tons of oil that enter homes exclusively through large-scale distribution: where and when is or can food education or product culture be done?”
