TURIN - On Tuesday, prosecutors started investigating seven companies suspected of alleged commercial fraud, judicial officials said. According to the judicial sources, the expertise made for a specialised sector journal revealed that in some cases examined olive oil, contrary to indications, was not "extra virgin".

  Extra Virgin olive oil is the highest quality type of olive olive, derived by extracting the juice from olives. To be albe to call a product as "extra virgin", producers need to meet specific standards.

  Raffaele Guariniello the prosecutor of Turin announced the investigation to confirm the findings published in "Il Test" magazine last spring. According to independent experts, dozen of the tested bottles of olive oil were not "extra virgin" as it was labeled by the producers.

  Guariniello suspect seven major oil brands, some of them being owned by foreign groups, for sale "extra virgin" products what actually was less valuable olive oil. Among the legal teams suspected to be involved in the affair are Antica Badia, Bertolli, Carapelli, Coricelli, Primadonna, Santa Sabina and Sasso.

  After Spain, Italy is the second largest producer of olive oil in the world, which generates about 2 billion euros of revenue every year. However, Italy is also the biggest olive oil importer, what could be the cause of fraud. The Italian farm lobby Coldiretti suspects that the fraud are often perpetrated by adding imported olive oil to the domestic product.

  Coldiretti called on authorities to close the case as soon as it possible in order to defend the strategic sector of the Made in Italy products and fair trade in the country and also to protect all the consumers.