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Shaunice Wall is NCL’s\u00a0Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow<\/em><\/p>\nOlive oil\u00a0and the\u00a0Mediterranean\u00a0are almost\u00a0synonymous. Extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO, has\u00a0been\u00a0an unrivaled staple in the gastronomy of the health conscious.\u00a0It\u00a0has\u00a0also\u00a0been long time\u00a0dubbed as \u201cheart healthy<\/a>\u201d due to its high antioxidant and\u00a0monosaturated fats, which can help\u00a0lower \u201cbad\u201d LDL cholesterol and raise \u201cgood\u201d HDL cholesterol.\u00a0In fact, the Mediterranean diet was recommended as one of the healthiest diets in the latest edition of the\u00a0Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However,\u00a0fraud in the marketing of EVOO\u00a0has plagued\u00a0consumers\u00a0for decades.\u00a0Too often, EVOO on the shelves of our grocery stores\u00a0are\u00a0low quality and falsely marked as\u00a0high-quality\u00a0virgin or extra-virgin\u00a0olive oil. An additional\u00a0common fraudulent activity\u00a0of olive oil production is the\u00a0mixing\u00a0of\u00a0fresh extra virgin olive oil with inferior,\u00a0cheaper\u00a0olive oils<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0oils of another botanical origin.\u00a0In 2015, the National Consumers League\u00a0(NCL)\u00a0tested\u00a011\u00a0different olive oils purchased at various supermarkets and discovered that\u00a0six\u00a0of them, despite being labeled \u201cextra virgin,\u201d in actuality did not meet the\u00a0standards\u00a0set by the International Olive Council (IOC).<\/p>\n Though the\u00a0mislabeling\u00a0of extra virgin olive oil\u00a0is cause for major\u00a0health\u00a0concern,\u00a0this\u00a0year,\u00a0a court in France has\u00a0sketched\u00a0an alternative\u00a0alarm\u00a0for consumers\u00a0as they have now banned the use of the world\u2019s most widely used weed killer in its country\u2019s olive groves.<\/p>\n The controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n Roundup Pro 360,\u00a0which is the\u00a0product\u00a0brand name\u00a0developed by\u202fMonsanto\u202fand now owned by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer,\u00a0has\u00a0grown to dominate the herbicide market\u00a0and lists glyphosate as its active ingredient.\u00a0A\u00a0French court\u00a0has\u00a0ruled that based on scientific studies, Roundup Pro 360 is \u201ca potentially carcinogenic product for humans, suspected of being toxic for human reproduction and for aquatic organisms.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) had classified glyphosate as \u201cprobably carcinogenic to humans.\u201d\u00a0Despite this warning,\u00a0the\u202fEuropean Commission had approved a\u00a05-year<\/a>\u00a0license renewal\u202ffor the substance in November 2017.\u00a0Partial and total bans of glyphosate also have been issued in about a dozen other countries since the release of that\u00a0statement, including several other members of the European Union, Brazil, Canada and\u00a0New Zealand.<\/p>\n Bayer\u00a0(used interchangeably\u00a0as Monsanto\u00a0throughout this article)\u00a0is appealing the French court\u2019s decision, citing studies that prove glyphosate is safe. Bayer is currently facing more than 9,300 lawsuits over the negative health effects of Roundup and related products.<\/p>\n A\u202fEuropean Parliament report<\/a>\u202frevealed that the European Commission\u2019s 2017 decision to extend the license for glyphosate was based on text that had been copied and pasted\u00a0from Monsanto studies and included in an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that concluded the substance is safe to use.<\/p>\n What one\u00a0Greek\u00a0study revealed\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The persistence of glyphosate and its primary metabolite AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic\u00a0acid) was monitored in two areas in Southern Greece\u00a0with a known history of glyphosate use, and the levels of residues were linked to spray operators\u2019 activities.\u00a0During a 3-year monitoring study, a\u00a0total of\u00a0170 samples<\/a>\u00a0were collected and\u00a0analyzed\u00a0from both areas.\u202fDifferences in the level of residues between areas, as well as sampling sites of the same area, were identified. AMPA persisted longer than the parent compound glyphosate in both areas. To\u00a0translate: the olives contained residual amounts of Roundup\u00a0Pro\u00a0360.<\/p>\n How\u00a0widespread\u00a0is herbicide use?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Weed control in olive groves\u00a0is needed to prevent weeds from soaking up the moisture the olive trees need to thrive. As a result,\u00a0herbicide use has become a common practice, especially\u00a0in Spanish olive groves, and has rapidly increased in the past 20 years. In very mountainous regions, close to\u00a090 percent of the olive groves<\/a>\u00a0are in a system using no-tillage and herbicides for weed control.<\/p>\n Why should the American consumer beware?<\/strong><\/p>\n Olive oil is made by\u00a0crushing olives\u00a0into a paste\u00a0with\u00a0steel blades.\u00a0The\u00a0olives are\u00a0stirred to release the oil droplets in a process called maceration before being spun in a centrifuge to pull out the oil and water. After the water is removed, what is left is\u00a0olive oil.<\/a>\u00a0If the olives used in this process are contaminated with Roundup Pro, the consumer\u00a0may be potentially ingesting\u00a0dangerous\u00a0cancer-causing\u00a0(otherwise known as\u00a0carcinogenic)\u00a0chemicals.<\/p>\n Each year\u00a0Americans consume more than 300,000 tons of olive oil<\/a> and less than 5 percent of it is\u00a0produced in the United States.\u00a0The bulk of U.S.\u00a0olive oil\u00a0imports come from Europe, North Africa, and especially Spain, which accounted\u00a0for\u00a062 percent<\/a>\u00a0of all\u00a0olive oil\u00a0imports in 2016.<\/p>\n The\u00a0EPA’s alleged\u00a0collusion with Monsanto\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Studies conducted by the\u00a0Environmental Protection Agency,\u00a0the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0agency that regulates the use of herbicides and pesticides,\u00a0claims the effects of glyphosate dietary exposure contradicts the declaration\u00a0that it poses carcinogenic hazards\u00a0by\u00a0the World Health Organization. This inconsistency in study findings is\u00a0subject to\u00a0an ongoing investigation by EPA\u2019s watchdog\u00a0that is currently\u00a0investigating allegations that former agency official Jess Rowland\u00a0colluded with Monsanto<\/a>\u00a0during the review process to counter suggestions it endangers human health.<\/p>\n![\"Infographic](\"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/olive_oil_cultivated_with_herbicide.png\")
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