00:00Europe's best food safety experts are joining forces to crack down on fraud.
00:06Euronews is following them in this special series called The Food Detectives.
00:10In this episode, we're following the team fighting counterfeit olive oil in Italy.
00:23Every drop of olive oil has its own story.
00:26But sometimes what looks like the real deal is, in fact, counterfeit.
00:31L'olio d'oliva è il cibo che è più soggetto ad adulterazioni a frodi tra tutti i generi alimentari.
00:42È facile miscelarlo con oli valore minore, con oli di semi, con altri composti che ne alterano la qualità.
00:51Such fraud may impact consumer health, and it's done for easy profit.
00:58Il prezzo dell'olio può variare da poco a un altissimo valore.
01:02Quindi c'è una grossa forchetta all'interno del quale si possono verificare le frodi.
01:06Questo viene aggravato dal fatto che la catena del valore dell'olio è estremamente frammentata.
01:11So, olive oil maker Antonella Meyer-Mashrilli is working with the food detectives from the EU's Watson project in their mission to beat fraud.
01:22Her secret weapon is genetic code.
01:25She uses DNA tests to guarantee the identity of her oils.
01:29Abbiamo scelto di far analizzare i nostri oli nel DNA per creare più trasparenza, più fiducia con i nostri consumatori.
01:41Molti produttori fanno marketing con foto di alberi millenari, ma alla fine non si tratta di olio di questi alberi.
01:50E noi, per renderci credibili, abbiamo questa certificazione.
01:54Perché è una certezza in più che diamo ai nostri consumatori.
02:05Such genetic testing is still very rare among olive oil producers, as it takes time and money.
02:13Until today, it's only been done in research labs.
02:16But the food detectives are now bringing the lab directly to the mill.
02:20Release our DNA.
02:21Greek biotech experts Stelios Ahondakis and Sevea Tsikoraki are developing a solution to make DNA testing more accessible and easier to carry out.
02:32We just opened the door for the first time in the world to do a DNA testing of an olive oil outside of a lab.
02:41We are introducing a device called field DNA.
02:45This device allows to isolate DNA from an olive oil sample in field conditions.
02:54So that's it.
02:55We are ready to analyse our DNA.
02:59The food detectives' portable DNA kit still needs refining, but it's on the right track.
03:05The development of a technology is always a challenge because you need to validate, you need to test it, you need to optimise until you reach a good performance and be sure that you have something that is solid.
03:20It is a path that we are now investigating, hopefully to be able to launch this product within the next month, year.
03:33Producers, millers and packages across Umbria welcome the innovation.
03:36It's the base, it's what can help us companies, us olive oil farmers, to protect the territory and the product that we do.
03:48To have an analysis that guarantees that that product comes from that plant is the most beautiful thing that we can do.
03:54Watson's project gives us clarity, and the final consumer is asking and looking for it more.
04:03Following the DNA tests, the food detectives are taking traceability one step further by giving each bottle a digital passport too.
04:12All the data that, during the production of olive oil production, are collected within the blockchain, but are made accessible to the consumer,
04:24which can easily access through Aquair Code to the entire history of olive oil,
04:30from the field where olive oil is being produced, to the number of the bottle that is acquired.
04:38That's it for this episode of the Food Detectives.
04:45Please head over to our website for more reports on beating fraud and boosting traceability in meat, fish, dairy, honey and wine.
04:53See you soon.
04:55See you soon.
04:57see you soon.
04:58V tres
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