Statement

The fake olive oil story as it is now known is a clickbait article that has been circulating on the Internet and social media for the past two years, and usually under the title «14 Fake Olive Oil Companies Revealed Now». It all started with a misleading olive oil lab report from UC Davis that was weighted to promote one segment of the olive oil industry at the expense of another.

CLICKBAITERS TURNED IT INTO A FAKE OLIVE OIL STORY
The New York Times ran the story using a misleading infographic about fake olive oil. Bloggers known as clickbaiters, in turn, saw this and created fake olive oil news stories around the subject to grab the attention of people and encourage them to visit their blogs to make money from ads. There is one fundamental problem with the story – it is not true. The North American Olive Oil authority proved the UC Davis 2010 test was flawed – it killed the story. There is the problem with fake news however – people who create it don’t care. Over 13,000 posts appeared on Google alone with the exact same heading “The 14 Fake Olive Oil Companies Are Revealed Now – Avoid These Brands”. Any real journalist would do some research and see that the story is fake, not run it; or at least write their own unique heading for a story. Yet thousands of sites copy-pasted the fake olive oil story as they saw it going viral to cash in. Several clickbait farms that duplicate websites and Tumblr accounts reposted this fake news about olive oil companies over and over to gain more traffic. You can see an example of these fake posts here.

As you know, there is a huge problem with fake news on facebook. We are not the only brand who has come under attack in this way.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WE TOLD FOOD BLOGGERS THE STORY IS FAKE?
We contacted food and health bloggers to let them know what is going on. We showed them the facts and we have had a great response. Many bloggers added links to show the story is fake, some removed Bertolli from the list, and over forty have deleted the fake news story. Why did they delete an article that brought them traffic and made them money? Because the value of their relationship with their followers is more important. The last thing they want to do is to share fake news stories with them. The number of sites deleting this clickbait article is increasing daily – but what about the clickbait sites created purely to drive traffic? You guessed it, no reply; they do not care about what they publish or how it can deceive their readers. They care about you clicking on their pages and then clicking on their ads – that’s it.

CONCERNS FROM YOU – THE BERTOLLI CUSTOMER
Clickbait saying Bertolli olive oil is fake has obviously made you, our customer, want to know what is really going on. Bertolli is owned by Deoleo S. A. and so we decided to set up a microsite to explain in detail how it’s all got out of hand. The story is totally untrue, and once you read the article you will see the real motivations behind the fake news stories surrounding olive oil.

SEE DETAILS HERE ABOUT THE FAKE OLIVE OIL STORY
There are six parts to the story.

WHY MANY PEOPLE BELIEVED THE BERTOLLI FAKE OLIVE OIL REPORT
Why the UC Davis report was not correct, and how it used different criteria, compared to more established testing methods.

THE SECOND FAKE OLIVE OIL REPORT YOU DIDN’T HEAR ABOUT
Details on how UC Davis attempted to fix the problems within the original study.

HOW BERTOLLI PRODUCES REAL EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Deoleo has received 80 – Bertolli alone taken home 18 awards just in 2018.

WHAT MAKES REAL BERTOLLI EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
The facts behind the fiction – what really happens when Bertolli makes olive oil.

14 FAKE OLIVE OIL BLOG POSTS REVEALED
Fourteen examples of the fake bloggers who run the story to make money from ads.

14 REAL OLIVE OIL BLOG POSTS ABOUT BERTOLLI
Fourteen examples of real bloggers who have written about Bertolli.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO NOW?
We need to let people know this story about olive oil is fake. You can do your bit by clicking on one of the social sharing buttons on this page and help Bertolli fight the fake food phenomenon that is going on in the olive oil industry. We want our customers to be informed through facts, not fiction. Once you have read the real facts on Deoleo.info, you will see it is nothing more than a clickbait campaign that misleads millions of people into thinking our oil is not what 80 different awards have proved it is.