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The Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL) is Bavaria’s central authority for health, food safety, veterinary medicine, occupational safety and product safety. The LGL also conducts applied research and provides expert advice and support to the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection as well as the Bavarian State Ministry of Health Care and Prevention.
In Germany, olive oil fraud has emerged as a critical issue, characterized by mislabelling and adulteration of extra virgin olive oil, undermining consumer confidence, market integrity and poses potential health risks. The main types of fraud are adulteration by the addition of cheaper oils, false claims of origin and the use of substandard oils. The LGL applies the EU Regulations regarding olive oil (Commission Implementing Regulation EU 2022/2105 and Commission Delegated Regulation EU 2022/2104) for chemical analysis (DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation). Of particular importance besides chemical analysis is the sensory testing of EVOO by the LGL’s Olive Oil Sensory Panel, which has been accredited by the IOC since 2001. However, the official methods do have their limitations. Therefore, complementary, reliable and cost-effective DNA based solutions targeting admixtures of olive oil with other vegetable oils, would further enhance consumer protection.
BioCoS is an innovative biotech company driven by its ethical and moral commitment towards nature’s protection for the future generations. Our vision is to bring the authentic story of an olive oil label to the consumers leveraging the value of DNA data, empowering sustainable production, with a positive impact to local communities, environment, and biodiversity.
BioCoS since 2018 provides solutions of authentication and traceability from field to store for high-end extra virgin olive oil labels. However, the last years, particularly during low production years, fraud thrives. Among the most common frauds is the admixture of olive oil with vegetable oils, jeopardizing the quality and integrity of an olive oil, which deceives consumer, but also disrupts the health benefits of olive oil and the reputation of the industry. The development of a DNA based solution in detecting admixtures complements current solutions used to tackle this issue, enhancing consumer protection.
Development of a molecular assay that can effectively detect vegetable oils in olive oil samples, especially of plant species, which are hard to discriminate with chemical methods (e.g. differentiation between hazelnut and almond). The method would be very sensitive, as with current chemical methods concentrations <15% of added vegetable oils cannot be detected. This entails the development of innovative species-specific biomarkers designed for the identification of adulterants, as well as the optimization of a robust DNA extraction protocol capable of processing fatty matrices.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement 101071212.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
