Moroccan olive oil: false rumors about the return of contaminated shipments from Europe

The Interprolive federation, representing the national olive oil industry, denies the allegations circulating on social networks about the return, by a European country, of a shipment suspected of containing residues of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. In a press release, it describes these accusations as false and unfounded, as there is, according to Interprolive, no evidence or official document to support them. The National Office of Sanitary Safety of Food Products (Onssa) also echoed this sentiment. It has also published data confirming the health compliance of Moroccan olive oil.

Furthermore, it has specified that the withdrawal of certain batches in Belgium in 2024 only concerned labeling deficiencies, and not the quality or safety of the product, as reported by L’Économiste. A finding had indeed been made by the Belgian authorities. It is about the absence of mandatory information such as the batch number or the expiration date, which prevents the precise identification of the origin of the bottles. Faced with the controversy, Onssa conducted in-depth inspections within the production units in question, which confirmed that the manufacturing processes strictly comply with the applicable health standards.

It should be noted that the office carried out 439 inspections during the 2024-2025 campaign. These inspections resulted in the withdrawal of seven authorizations and temporary suspensions (11). Also, more than forty tons of non-compliant oil were destroyed. In total, 73 infringement files were transmitted to the competent authorities. "The control of pesticide residues, aligned with international standards, has been considerably strengthened. 6,635 samples were analyzed in 2025, compared to 1,536 five years earlier," the same source said.