Ökotest olives with dyes

In olives, no residues of pesticides were detected, but a lot of dyes.

(05.08.2010) The environmentally conscious consumer magazine "Öko-Test" examined 24 varieties of olives from different manufacturers. Only a single sample was found to contain pesticide residues in the laboratory. Amazing: Ironically, the organic olives were affected by pesticides. Öko-Test, however, made another discovery: many of the olives had dyes.

For coloring the black olives so-called iron salts are used. It mainly olives are dyed, which are actually still green and immature. Because the olives are mostly harvested, if they are not yet ripe, so are green. The consumer advocates, however, give the all-clear. The limits were observed for all olives.

But how do you recognize black-colored olives? The answer is simple, you hardly recognize it at all. Because even if the olives were subsequently dyed, according to the food regulations no coloring information must be appropriate. Only the reference to the list of ingredients reveals whether the olives were dyed. If black olives were dyed, then it is in the list of ingredients: "Iron II gluconate". The addition of iron gluconate causes an oxidation process in olives and therefore discoloration. The dyeing material with the designation E 579 is used exclusively for olives. Health risks have not been observed so far. Since the coloring material has a very high iron content, this may possibly lead to an increase in pathogens. (Sb)

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Picture: Rainer Sturm