That’s part of the doubt that the New York Times info-graphic kind of …. Tom Mueller Since his 2007 article “Slippery Business” in The New Yorker, freelance writer Tom Mueller has become the world’s de facto expert on olive oil. I didn’t even realize there were words at first, I just started reading the pictures. The adulteration of Italian olive oil. Whether they will or not, I don’t know. As you said earlier, if we could get a machine that would do this objectively and somehow make sure that the people who are programming that machine have the right intentions, that would be the best case scenario. Illustrator Nicholas Blechman deftly draws out the truth in his recent slideshow for The New York Times Op-Ed section, Extra Virgin Suicide: The Adulteration of Olive Oil, an informative illustration is based on the research of Tom Mueller, author of the blog Truth in Olive Oil… It’s clearly rancid, clearly fusty. Here are the things I learned from this book. Frankly, the people who set the chemical parameters are usually the same people, the same top chemists, who work at the top olive oil companies. Mueller, author of the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, shared his taste test results on his blog Truth in Olive Oil. Pop a straw in there and go to it. Olive Oil Myths. That’s both for consumers to make sure they’re getting the good stuff and the healthy stuff and the healthy stuff, but it’s also for producers who some are going to extraordinary lengths and a great deal of expense to make great olive oil. We have good science that tells us a lot about what is healthy oil olive oil and what is less healthy olive oil. These things are yes or no. Customized party favors for special events, weddings and corporate gifts. In the New York Times bestselling Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller writes both a love letter to ages-old, family-run, small batch olive oil purveyors and a scathing survey of the widespread global oil … We’re talking about rancid, we’re talking about musty, we’re talking about mold. Quite striking. Today we will discuss olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil – to help you make the best choices. According to Mueller, around 80 percent of Bertolli's oil … The skull and cross bones with olives was kind of a punch in the gut. They get to put extra virgin on there. What quality do you most admire in a person? There's lots of money to be made, and there are also many questions left unanswered. In Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller describes how Bertolli succeeded due to a perverse twist in European law that, until 2001, permitted any olive oil bottled in Italy to be sold as "Italian olive oil." Still under the spell of the anti-fat propaganda that filled our food airwaves and dominated the nutritional discussion in the 1980s and 1990s, they wonder, 'if olive oil … Odds are, the olive oil labeled “extra virgin” currently in your kitchen might very well have been mixed with other oils. Mueller does a pretty good job of giving the reader (or listener, in my case) a good overview of the world of olive oil. For a period of time, you have to go the extra mile to prove to people that this is the real McCoy. At least in the part of producers, growers, importers, honest ones, and educating consumers. What do you most enjoy about the business? I feel like unfortunately, it’s price over quality so often. They published a redaction at the end of the info-graphic, it is there today, in one of the smallest font sizes I have ever seen online. “Someone tell me about this now. I know everybody now. With his groundbreaking article in The New Yorker and then a highly acclaimed book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, author Tom Mueller has more than anyone else exposed the dark side of the olive oil business and the need for change. If there’s enough doubt about what’s in those bottles and you hear fraud, fraud, fraud … That’s part of what I feel like the olive oil industry, whether it’s importers or national producers, one of the critical things is to dispel doubt. That’s creative license, right? I basically did a hand off to experts. What Australia, what South Africa, what to a certain extent California has done is very important in raising or lowering the perimeters. Great job!” Then I started reading the words. Olive Oil JDH / You Taste The Truth – You Taste the Truth EStore "Extra Virgin Olive oil Is an age-old food with space age qualities that medical science is just beginning to understand" Tom Mueller, author of … It’s all extra virgin. Exposing Widespread “AgroMafia” Corruption. February 7, 2012 In the August 13, 2007, issue of the magazine, Tom Mueller wrote about corruption in the olive-oil trade. I thought, “Oh what’s going on there.” I quickly flipped to the New York Times site and I looked at the graphics and the were quite eye catching. There are problems with the taste test. For very good reasons, because they know a hell of a lot about olive oil. It was because it was very easy to fiddle the chemistry and extraordinarily difficult to fiddle the sensory. Copyright 2021 - On Olive Oil. I think you’re absolutely right. If you’re spending thirty or forty percent more for extra virgin, you deserve to get what’s on the label. Blechman started getting hit with tweets and emails too. Your source for gourmet products to use in your kitchen. I mean, I wrote a book on the stuff but I don’t consider myself a real expert in any of the particular fields. I think it’s a very unfortunate combination of … Well, it’s a wonderful visual. That’s illegal. Then finally on January 29, fifteen days after the story published and all the damage was done, and no one visited the page anymore, the Times made the corrections. Olive oil is 98% fat. "The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all," as Mark Twain once said, and in general I agree. The legislation obviously has to be tightened. I need to know more.” Until that happens … Many laws are not worth the paper they’re written on. The seal that protects bad oil is not worth the plastic it’s made out of. Maybe because the piece was calling out more than just the bad guys. Journalist Tom Mueller … Olive oil is a supremely healthy food. We spoke with Tom at his home in Liguria. Confused? Olive Oil. I did that in this case and also gave them a walking tour of certain areas where you can really see the impact of certain trends, certain negative trends, in the olive oil production in Italy and the abandonment of fields because people just simply can’t make a living anymore. How much does that cost. At one point saying, “I’m just an illustrator,” leaving everyone to wonder how the New York Times could publish something so disparaging without any writer on record. He is the author of Extra Virginity – … - Tom Mueller Olive oil is a supremely healthy food. No one would question the objectivity of a machine. Even accidental ones. I quickly tweeted to let people know, “Hey this actually isn’t me this is Nicholas Blechman. The actual makers of the oil … Who knows who they are. Tom, I’m sure you must have had your fair share of angry emails over the years. “Profits are comparable to cocaine trafficking, with none of the risks.” – Tom Mueller… And not much has — with allegations of corruption and fraud in today’s headlines continuing to turn people away confused and distrustful. December 12, 2011 • In his book Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller explains why you can't believe everything you read on olive oil labels. It’s problematic to determine where the consumer is going to his or her most reliable and most useful information. In his book Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller takes us through the sublime, scandalous world of olive oil. His number one Trader Joe’s olive oil pick? Real olive oil is green, and the deeper the color, the higher the quality. The words were really problematic. Four Organizations Sharing the Same Five Letters. Sensory ultimately because of that is the best indication of whether you’re really getting fresh-squeezed olive juice, which is extra virgin olive oil, or something inferior to that. They talk about a huge percentage of adulteration when in fact that’s really not a huge percentage at this point. I’m super disappointed in the New York Times for not doing the right thing first of all, in fact-checking, and second of all, in retraction or correction. This is not extra virgin. Clearly, the health aspect is one of the key drivers of change. I’m not convinced from what I’ve seen that a major change in legislation is going to be the answer. I’m betting it was more or less the same. The problem is that the consumer once again is caught in this crossfire of information and misinformation, which is a theme that we’ve come back to again and again during this conversation. It’s like wine. This episode was pubished November 26, 2015. Last year Italy produced two hundred and fifty thousand tons. He thought he was getting it right and he thought he was telling an accurate and clever story. – Tom Mueller, in the New Yorker magazine, writing about the practice of trafficking in fake olive oil So how do you know that your olive oil is authentic? It’s been four years since the first release of investigative journalist Tom Mueller’s ground breaking book, “Extra Virginity,” which enlightened readers to not just the fraud that goes on in the olive oil industry and it’s long shady history, but also the rich culture. ADULTERATED / FRADULENT EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, World Map of Companies Registered at The Olive Oil Source. Truth in Olive Oil: I recently, regretfully, wound up this website. Then needless to say, I was cited as the source. You might remember the 60 Minutes news presentation “AgroMafia” food fraud where they exposed the Mafia extending into agricultural products, especially olive oil, on which the mob makes huge profits by exporting imitations.. I think even the visuals are a bit of an overstatement. How much olive oil came out of Italy last year? The book describes the history of olive oil, including its religious, … Then you need better laws and clearer truth and labeling. Raising the quality requirements for the chemistry. He came up with the clever visuals. Misinformation. Olive Oil. Many people find these two statements mutually exclusive. They were probably bought and sold decades if not a century before. Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. A tiny fraction of what Spain even on a bad year produced. This is what it says. Who is the world authority in any given thing, whether it’s olive oil chemistry or food law or whatever. "[Mueller reveals] the brazen fraud in the olive oil industry and [teaches] readers how to sniff out the good stuff." The extraordinary gift to all of us that is olive oil and the importance of making some changes. What is your most satisfying achievement? It’s a science. I am an expert on experts. Labels. Very, very little. “The graphic incorrectly cited Tom Mueller as the source of the information. Jenkins, Mueller and Nahabedian all call for extra virgin olive oil. Quite eye-catching, quite clever. Truth in Olive Oil - Tom Mueller. If we’re looking at matters of taste, whether you like something or don’t like something, do you prefer more bitter or more pungent, that’s completely subjective. Not some change in law, not even the methanol scandal despite the fact that some people will disagree with me there. You’re not going to be fooled about what you’re buying. How many taste samples can a given panel do in a day, in a week, in a month. What does “Made in Italy” mean anymore or at least what does bottled and packed in Italy mean. Olive oil is a global business. It’s important for people to understand that the vast majority of oil that’s consumed in the United States but also frankly around the Mediterranean was not produced by the same people it was bottled by. As soon as two or three consumers in a given store go the manager and say, “Look, this says extra virgin and says that it was bottled three years ago. If you’re a savvy consumer, it’s more like an insult. They might seem to some like small corrections but to many they were quite important. In olive oil nowadays, you never see virgin on the shelves. What is your favorite food and olive oil pairing? Tom Mueller Yeah, the law on olive oil has a chemical and a taste component and they are of equal importance. A New York Times best-selling culinary, cultural and criminal history of olive oil, one of the world's most marvellous and murky substances.. They identify one kind of fraud as another. I want my money back.” That manager is going to say, A. Now, exactly how to communicate that to the average consumer who walks into a store and won’t even be able to see that information, that’s another question. The Heartbreak of Global Olive Oil Fraud—and What to Do About It. Several people said, “Hey great work on the New York Times thing.” Saying it to me. Why is that, because seventy eight or eighty percent of it was imported from Spain, Tunisia, and various other places that produced a lot more oil and simply had a sticker change and a flag change. Copyright © 1998-2021 The Olive Oil Source | 1.805.688.1014 |, Olive Flowering, Pollination, and Fruit Set Factors, Opening an Olive Oil Tasting Bar or Store, How Olive Oil Fits in a Healthy Lifestyle. His new book, Extra Virginity (W.W. Norton & Co., 2012), details the fraud that’s wreaking havoc in the olive oil business. It did not go in over night. At the end of the day, people have proposed extra extra virgin. We’re really getting to be silly here I think in simply not applying what we have in front of us. But the recent, resounding review by The New York Times of my new book "Extra Virginity", a cultural, criminal, culinary and commercial history of olive oil… I’m all for that. You really have to step up. They can be a very, very subtle lack of fruitiness. I’m not saying that it’s a perfect system. “Here’s your money.” B. All Rights Reserved. A podcast program hosted by Olive Oil Times publisher Curtis Cord, featuring interviews with interesting people around the world sharing their views on the culture of olive oil and whatever else comes to mind. Visually, it was quite vivid. Making lazy generalizations that you take pains to avoid in your journalism. I think the tighter the better in terms of health. Journalist Tom Mueller has lobbed a bombshell into the world of extra virgin olive oil. Sensory science, food science, is taught in universities. One, there are many, … If you’re looking at the presence or absence of a give taste flaw or a giving sensory flaw I should say. Well, okay. Rancid, mold, things that are really unhealthy. The names that you read on the labels are just that. According to olive oil expert Tom Mueller, “Good oils come in all shades, from vivid green to gold to pale straw, and official tasters actually use colored glasses to avoid prejudicing themselves in favor of greener oils.” Real olive oil … While Mr. Mueller’s blog and other writings were consulted in preparation of the graphic, several of his findings were misinterpreted.”. Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil is a 2011 nonfiction book by American author Tom Mueller about olive oil. As you say, fifteen days is a shocking amount of time to let go by. The decades of hard work that have gone into developing the taste panel and the statistical analysis that goes into processing the work of the taste panel is pretty much bullet proof. The problem with this is is when you have enough doubt in a market, you open yourself up to misunderstandings and attacks of this kind. It was decades of work and development of the sensory testing. Once upon a time, not that long ago, on the shelves you would see virgin oil and extra virgin oil. I mean, problems having to do with just logistics, do-ability. I am able to pass people off to the genuine authorities. I’m sure that must have been a tough week for you. Tom Mueller is probably best known for his undercover work that cracked the practice of importing fraudulently-labeled olive oil wide open with the publication of his article entitled Slippery Business in … Finally, the graphic incorrectly cited Tom Mueller, who runs the blog Truth in Olive Oil, as the source of the information. Or worse, it’s not olive oil at all, but a vegetable oil disguised with coloring and synthetic aroma. That’s just not the way it went down at all. My mother was prescribed a Mediterranean diet and I said, “That sounds good. In fact, of the six oils he sampled, his favorite was Trader Joe's … I disagreed with a few things, but I mean who doesn’t. I do think that educating consumers ultimately is going to be what drives this. The taste test cannot be fiddled. The words really didn’t capture … As you say, they conflate a whole bunch of different things. The Best Extra-Virgin Olive Oil to Buy at Trader Joe’s (Image credit: Tom Mueller/Truth in Olive Oil) 3. I genuinely think this was a completely in good faith thing. Olive oil is 98% fat. Journalist Tom Mueller has written about them in his book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. ―Dwight Garner, New York Times For millennia, fresh olive oil has been one of life’s … Tom Muller writes: “So real extra virgin olive oil is fresh-squeezed fruit juice—seasonal, perishable, and never better than the first few weeks it was made.” Unlike wine, olive oil does not get … Then I heard via twitter. I mean we’re talking about some things that can be extraordinarily subtle and other things that just hit you like a sledge hammer. I’m not saying that’s necessarily wrong, but there’s an inherent conflict of interest there. It’s more like someone is trying to take you for a ride than to actually sell you an honest product. Nicholas Blechman who was really the creative force behind this from beginning to end, he was the illustrator, so it really sounded like I was the one who came up with this notion and gave it to him when I was done. The reason that this was put into the law is because it’s very easy to fiddle the chemistry. A wide variety of products for retailers and olive oil professionals. It’s, in my view, not at all subjective. Unfortunately they are undercut by folks who are sweeping it up off the ground and deodorizing it and mixing it and blending it and selling it as extra virgin for a fifth of the price. It’s a basic staple, but most rentals don’t stock it, and who knows how far you’ll … For … It tracts very tightly to sensory analysis and to chemical analysis. We have a good definition of extra virgin olive oil. You can get a tetra pak of cooking wine and no one pretends that it’s going to be grand cru. He discusses how resellers add lower-priced, low-grade oils filled with artificial coloring to extra-virgin olive oil! The common assumption is that the best olive oil is from Italy. I mean, ultimately I think that’s what made the difference in why. Various other things. In other words, if you pass the chemical but fail the taste, you still get downgraded and … Why did you first get involved in the olive oil industry? The reason that the legislators put that in, and believe me. If you want to drink it, go ahead. Did the doctor tell you anything about which olive oils to choose?” “Oh no.” It’s fine to talk about health and longevity and so on, but if you don’t go into the details of exactly what was on the materials, what ingredients you’re using, again it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. Speaking of the giving nature of your neighborhood TJ's, the California Estate isn't the only EVOO of which Tom Mueller approves. You use it for cooking. Several. If you’re ultimately going to have a dead letter law to begin with, I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be better to invest more. Then taking into account science. Inferior can be with a very minor test defect or several major taste flaws. Many people find these two statements mutually exclusive. I felt first of all like an idiot for having said, “Hey great work,” then having to go back on that. What do you think is the industry’s biggest challenge? False. I think he’s a wonderful illustrator. Super extra virgin. That’s one where I think some government body taking an enlightened view of the consumer rather than special interest groups or industries could really play a big role. Sometimes it’s absurd.