“Italy is the only country where all production and all producers are traced online. Every operator handling olive oil must be registered in a specific online registry. We know every day the situation of storage and handling of olive oil in Italy.” Stefano Vaccari, head of the Department of Central Inspectorate for fraud repression at the Italian Ministry of Agriculture is keen to dispel myths over the quality of Italian food. Recent reports by CBS “60 Minutes”, as by New York Times (“Extra Virgin Suicide”), have sparked outcry in Italy and fears in the US about the quality of imported food products, especially of olive oil. “Italian olive oil is a successful case, not a suicide,” said Vaccari, speaking at a workshop on food safety organized by the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) in Washington DC. The use of online traceability, as well as of QR Codes are part of Italy’s stringent controls, explained Anna Beatrice Ciorba, from the General Directorate of Hygiene, food safety and nutrition of the Italian Ministry of Health. Traceability concerns all stages of production, processing and distribution, based on EU regulation No 178, 2002, Article 18.
AMERICAN CONSUMERS NEED MORE EDUCATION – However, controls are not enough to prevent cases of food adulteration. And when it comes to large export markets like the US, correct information and transparent labeling is necessary to guide misled consumers. “Awareness of reading labels in the US is increasing but is still fairly low. Consumers haven’t really become experts in labels to understand what they buy,” said Nancy Drake, director emeritus of the US Information Office, Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium. “They don’t go as far as reading and this is why they are increasingly confused and there is much education to be done,” she said. Different regulation can also be a problem. The US does not protect geographical identification names but recognizes trademarks. Some Italian producers have joined forces in consortiums to register their product names. This is the case of Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma. “But this is not the case of cheeses like Asiago, Fontina and Gorgonzola, or cured meat like crespone, finocchiona and many others that don’t have this protection,” Drake said.
