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The oregano herb in its fresh, natural state.
CUSTOMERS are getting ripped off with less than half of dried oregano products on supermarket shelves consisting of 100 per cent oregano, a consumer group says.
Choice says it tested samples of 12 oregano products and found seven of them adulterated with olive and sumac leaves.
MasterFoods, Woolworths Select, Coles, McCormick and Herbies Spices were the only brands containing 100 per cent oregano leaves.
Olive leaves and other ingredients were found in Aldi’s Stonemill product, Master of Spices, Hoyt’s, Spice & Co, Menora, Spencers and G. Fresh.
The Hoyts ‘oregano leaves’ product has come under fire from Choice.Source:Supplied
Oregano leaves made up less than 10 per cent of the Master of Spices product, and accounted for only 11-50 per cent of the other brands’ products.
“Dried oregano is a staple in the spice rack of many Australians. It’s important that we get what we’re paying for,†Choice said.
“There is clearly a major problem in the oregano supply chain in Australia, which also raises the question about other herbs and spices entering the Australian market.â€
Choice found oregano made up less than 10 per cent of this product.Source:Supplied
The probe into the $115 million herbs and spices market came after a UK food fraud study last year revealed almost 25 per cent of dried oregano products in the market were tainted with other ingredients.
The results have been referred to consumer watchdog ACCC which is conducting its own investigations.
Choice says Aldi has offered a refund to customers for the tainted product sold between January 2015 and March 2016, while Spice & Co said the adulteration must have occurred earlier in the supply chain.