The European Union is going to ban small glass bottles used for serving olive oil in many restaurants across Europe, with the thought that refillable bottles cannot ensure the quality of the product.
As ekathimerini reported, the EU executive said that from next year restaurant customers will use olive oil from non-refillable bottles with proper content labeling to accompany their garden salad or crusty bread.
EU spokesman, Olivier Bailly, said that customers are often fooled as they are often served cheap olive oil, passed off as high quality olive oil. He claims that non-reusable bottles will also improve hygiene. “We are just protecting consumers,” he said. “We are just making it clear that when you want to have olive oil of a certain quality in a restaurant, you get exactly the one you are paying for.”
The ruling was immediately attacked and ridiculed, with the EU being criticized as a meddling agency who intends to control the market, overriding personal and national choice in the food sector.
“They should let the people decide what olive oil bottles they want to use and not dictate uniformity from the center,” said Paul Nuttall, a member of the European parliament from Britain’s UK Independence Party. He also added: “This ridiculous move is even contrary to their often repeated call in favor of reusing goods.”
However, the European Commission said that the majority of the member nations support this move. The use of non-reusable olive oil bottles has already been compulsory in Portugal since 2006, despite restaurant owners’ complaints.
The Commission doesn’t intend to impose similar rules on packaging for butter, salt, pepper or any other dinner table staples.
Olive oil is a product which is prone to fraud, as cheap olive oil can easily be passed off as high quality, extra-virgin olive oil from top regions. With this move, the EU aims to control the olive oil offered at restaurants and to guarantee the quality of the product.
The continent-wide farmer’s federation supports the move. “This will ensure a high-quality product for consumers,” said Rafael Sanchez de Puerta of the Copa-Cogecas federation. Also, by displaying the name, origins and storing conditions, “This will help to preserve the image of olive oil.”
The EU is the world’s biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for up to 70 percent of the global output, according to the Commission.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
