Italy growers wary of olive oil fraud

Blera, Italy

FOR some of the 300 olive growers who toil here in the rolling hills of the Lazio region, making olive oil is a year-round labour of love.

The olives are hand-harvested early in the fall, when they are still green, and are whisked to a cooperative-run mill so they can be cold-pressed within 12 hours. Nothing is added in the process, following precise standards that produce the extra-virgin olive oil that Italy vaunts as one of its most prized products, and most successful global exports.