AMMAN — With the
season dawning for picking olives and pressing them for virgin olive oil,
consumers are warned to beware of fraud and to buy oil from reliable sources.
اضافة اعلان
By the same token,
experts urged the responsible authorities to intensify control over olive oil,
whose prices will see a slight increase.
Mahmoud Al-Omari, a
spokesperson for the General Syndicate of
Jordanian Olive Oil Mills Owners and Olive Producers, called on consumers to buy oil from reliable sources “either
from mills, or from trusted farmers”.
He envisaged oil
production in the upcoming season at 27,000 tonnes. He told Jordan News that the price of an olive oil tin of 16 liters will cost up to JD90.
Omari invited
consumers to an Olive and Rural Products Festival on November 23, which will be
held in Mecca Mall, saying different brands of virgin oil will be displayed.
Nedal Samain, head
of the Jordanian Society for Sensory Evaluation of Food, said defrauding in
olive oil “is not new”.
“In the past few
years, we developed mechanisms with the competent authorities in the private
and public sectors to control and track fraud,” he told Jordan News.
“Nevertheless, some
merchants keep inventing new methods to deceive consumers,” he noted.
He pointed to the
necessity of buying oil from mills, or from olive-producing farms, “thus
ensuring that the source is reliable”.
“The label must
state the name of the company,” he asserted. He warned against buying the
product online so as not to fall prey to deception.
“It is difficult to
rely on the consumer to determine the quality of the oil through taste or color
because some traders make its taste good and its color is identical to the
original,” he said.
Adnan Khaddam, head
of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, predicted that the upcoming olive oil
season “will be good”.
Khaddam said that
in light of the worsening financial conditions and the weakened purchasing
power of many Jordanian families, “consumers are expected to look for the
product at the lowest possible price.” That, he noted, will open the door for
swindlers.
Lawrence Al-Majali,
a spokesperson for the
Ministry of Agriculture, told Jordan News that his ministry has undertaken “exceptional” measures this year to combat oil
fraud. He said the effort is done jointly with the Jordan Food and Drug
Administration, security services, and the Jordan Standards and Metrology
Organization.
“There will be
committees deployed in hotels and restaurants to verify the quality of the oil
used”, he said. “There will also be an initiative to check the oil before it
reaches consumer homes to ensure the safety of the product.”
Majali confirmed
that this year, olive oil prices “will rise slightly, especially at the
beginning of the season”.
“The quantity of
olives is expected to rise this year to 190,000 tonnes, with a production
surplus of 10–20 percent,” he noted. He said that it is also expected that
olive oil production will reach 27,000 tonnes this year.
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