The Civil Police of Rio closed this Thursday (7) a warehouse that produced counterfeit olive oil and arrested four people in the act for crimes against consumer relations and fraud in commerce. They used a clandestine warehouse in Barra de Guaratiba, in the west zone of Rio, to manufacture and adulterate the product, filling 70% vegetable oil in bottles with non-existent olive oil brands.
Industrial machinery and a large quantity of bottles were found at the site, as well as packaging and labeling material. The police found many labels that had been torn off bottles from a supposedly unsuitable batch and ordered to be recalled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
The prisoners are from Minas Gerais and were working in the warehouse when the police arrived at the clandestine warehouse. All were charged with crimes against the popular economy and then released.
The action was carried out by the Campo Grande Police Station. The chief delegate, Marco Castro, said that the product was sold in large quantities in supermarket chains in Rio. “The person, without knowing it, took the fake olive oil home, with a high price for the consumer.” The warehouse in Barra de Guaratiba was sealed by the police.
Fraud
Recently, in October this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock issued a risk warning to consumers about 12 olive oil brands disqualified for fraud. The brands are: Grego Santorini, La Ventosa, Alonso, Quintas D’Oliveira, Olivas Del Tango, Vila Real, Quinta de Aveiro, Vincenzo, Don Alejandro, Almazara, Escarpas das Oliveiras and Garcia Torres.
The samples were analyzed at the Federal Agricultural Defense Laboratory. Physico-chemical tests disqualified the products for not meeting identity and quality standards, being considered unfit for consumption.
Laboratory analyzes detected the presence of unidentified vegetable oils in the composition of the olive oils, compromising the quality and safety of the products, in addition to posing a risk to the health of consumers, due to the lack of clarity regarding the origin of these oils.
