More than black olives: 12 out of 15 packages are chemically ‘coloured’

I find the story of green olives turning into black olives, without anyone knowing (I am talking about the uninitiated), emblematic of why clear labelling of foodstuffs is absolutely necessary.

It is good to know that Italy and some multinationals, such as Ferrero and Lactalis, oppose this.

They have proposed an unclear labelling system, the NutrInform , which no company or country has adopted (except Ferrero).

Other than black olives: 12 out of 15 packages are chemically ‘coloured’

By

Roberto Quintavalle

People who buy black olives usually think that they are ‘naturally’ black. Often, however, producers artificially colour green, not fully ripe olives. Out of 15 jars, Il Salvagente found 12 coloured ones

The true black olive is a green olive that has ripened on the tree. It can be recognised by its wrinkled appearance and pronounced taste with tannic notes. But letting an olive ripen takes time. And since each one has its own ripening rhythm, harvesting can only take place a little at a time. Some industrialists therefore prefer to harvest them all at once, still green and immature, even at the cost of giving them an artificial black colour later on.

Soda and ferrous gluconate bath to colour them

To remove their natural bitterness and soften them, the green olives are first soaked in soda baths and then in brine. They are then immersed in a solution of ferrous gluconate, an iron-based salt that creates an oxidation reaction that colours them black. In particular, this treatment is done to ‘pitted’ black olives to facilitate the penetration of ferrous gluconate into their flesh.

Although ferrous gluconate is non-toxic, the lack of transparency about the reason for its use is emblematicha. Since it is not a pigment, it is often indicated as ‘stabiliser’ (E579) and not as ‘colouring agent’ on labels.

What’s on the shelves

Il Salvagente wanted to check what is offered on the shelves of Italian shops and the results, as you can see from the table below, are discouraging: chemically blackened olives are really full in all supermarkets, with almost no exceptions. Only the organic products we found were saved, the only ones not using ferrous gluconate.

monini