Food fraud: What’s in your oregano?

By 24. July 2015Blog, Quality, Risk Management

According to Which magazine, there’s a 1 in 4 chance it contains Myrtle or olive leaves.

Yes, those fraudsters are at it again, this time they are bulking out dried oregano with leaves from the trees of olive or Myrtle. The magazine claim that out of 78 samples purchased from a range of retailers in the UK, 25% of them contained between 30-70% of the other leaves.

The tests were conducted by Professor Elliot, Director of the Institute for Global Food Security. In case that name rings a bell with you it’s because he authored the independent study into the horse meat scandal.

Food fraud is unacceptable in any form. Consumers should get what they pay for and some food fraud can be seriously hazardous to health.

This time though it’s not all bad news, both olive and Myrtle leaves are full of antioxidants and have been used as herbal remedies for a long time. Olive leaves are supposedly have anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic properties. Myrtle has been traditionally prescribed for sinus infections.

Still, like a tin of Ronseal, when you buy something you expect it to be (or do) exactly what it says on the tin.

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