Food System

Italian, or rather Chinese, tomato preserves. BBC investigation

December 4, 2024

565

BBC World Service has published the results of a long investigation that raises doubts about some ‘made in Italy’ tomato preserves presented as Italian but – in some cases, it seems – Chinese (1,2).

Table of Contents

1) Tomato preserves, an emblem of ‘made in Italy’

Tomato preserves undoubtedly represent a historic emblem of Italian cuisine – as protagonists of pasta, pizza and various other dishes, including ‘parmigiana’ – as well as of ‘made in Italy’ products. (3)

Tomatoes used in ‘Made in Italy’ preserves, moreover, are not always grown in Italy. It is therefore important to always check the label:

– the origin of the product, i.e. the country where it underwent its last substantial transformation;

– the origin of the primary ingredients, therefore the country where the tomatoes were grown.

Prices of ‘100% made in Italy’ preserves are obviously higher than those of sauces made from foreign raw materials (e.g. semi-finished products arriving from Asia, Africa, South America), since the former are considered to have a better quality.

2) The BBC World Service investigation

British reporters sampled 64 canned tomatoes, purchased in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. The products, both industrial and private label, in some cases reported an explicit reference to the Italian origin of the tomatoes, in other cases a generic reference to Italy (Italian sounding), and in others no geographical reference at all.

The samples were subjected to analysis by the Australian laboratory ‘Source Certain’, which proceeded to identify the levels of trace elements contained in the tomatoes to track the country of their cultivation. The same analytical approach that was developed in Italy by one of the greatest experts in vegetable preserves, Antonio Trifirò, and has been validated at a scientific level, as we have seen. (4)

3) Authentic and suspicious products

The results of the analyses suggested that 47 out of 64 preserves actually contained Italian tomatoes. The authenticity of products with the most famous Italian brands, such as Mutti and Napolina (Princes), as well as those of some German and British supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, was confirmed.

The suspiscious on the possible use of Chinese tomatoes, concerns 17 preserves, 10 of which were produced in Italy by Petti, also under the brands of international supermarket chains.

The Petti Group suffered the seizure in 2021 of 4.477 tons of semi-finished and preserved tomato products as part of an investigation into commercial fraud which was later concluded through a plea bargain. (5)

4) UK, Germany. Suspicious canned goods with supermarket brands

The 10 preserves suspected of containing Chinese tomatoes were produced by Petti and marketed between April and August 2024:

– in the UK, with the supermarket brands Asda, Tesco, Morrisons

– in Germany, with the supermarket brands Edeka, Penny, Lidl, Rewe

Tesco and Rewe stood out by immediately suspending supplies and recalling the products, respectively. Waitrose, Morrisons, Edeka and Rewe later said they had conducted their own tests and had not detected the presence of Chinese tomatoes in the products. However, they did not provide any details.

Lidl instead admitted to having previously sold in Germany Chinese tomatoes processed by another large industry in Agro Nocerino Sarnese (Salerno), Giaguaro. (6) Which is added to a third industry, Attianese, also being investigated for ‘food fraud’ and other crimes. (7)

5) Petti, BBC investigations

The investigations conducted by BBC reveal that the Petti group received over 36.000 tons of tomato paste from the Chinese company Xinjiang Guannong and its subsidiaries between 2020 and 2023. This company was sanctioned in the US for using forced labor in 2020.

Petti tried to deny this circumstance, by producing a copy of what he claimed was the latest invoice from Xinjiang Guannong, dated October 2020.

The BBC’s incognito reporter team instead photographed a dozen blue barrels of tomato paste, inside the Italian Food factory (Petti group) in Tuscany, one of which has the label ‘Xinjiang Guannong Tomato Products Co Ltd, prod date 2023-08-20’.

6) Italian or Chinese tomato, what are the differences?

The use of Chinese tomato, mind you, is not banned per se. China is one of the world’s leading producers of tomatoes, which are concentrated to reduce transportation costs and processed in every country in the world. These products do not present any different food safety risks than those produced elsewhere.

The presentation of tomato preserves as ‘100% made in Italy’ or ‘from Italian tomatoes’, when they contain tomatoes of different origin or provenance, constitutes the crime of commercial fraud. This crime entails, among other things, in Italy, administrative liability and exclusion from public funding.

7) Official controls and due diligence

The investigation by BBC World Service has the merit of having shed light on a possible vulnerability in a sector that is strategic both for the Italian food industry and for the image of ‘made in Italy’ in the world.

The supervisory authorities and the industry category representatives now have the responsibility of applying a validated analysis method to ascertain the origin of the tomatoes used in vegetable preserves. (8)

Importers and retailers must in turn exercise due diligence, perhaps even require traceability via blockchain, to avoid incurring liability for ‘food fraud’ themselves. (9)

8) Shopping tips

Tomato and its preserves are traditionally poor products, at relatively low prices. But if the price is too low, you have to be careful about its possible hidden costs.

Not just fraud but also abuses of commercial power towards agricultural and processing companies, rather than abuses on workers. What is the social cost of our spending? (10)

Dario Dongo

Footnotes

(1) Mike Rudin, Sarah Buckley. ‘Italian’ purees in UK supermarkets likely to contain Chinese forced-labour tomatoes. BBC news. 1.12.24 https://tinyurl.com/546n9ax

(2) #BBCEye. Blood on the Shelves: The Secrets of Xinjiang’s Tomato Industry – BBC World Service Documentaries. Video 2.12.24 https://tinyurl.com/4h2jnbca

(3) Dario Dongo. San Marzano DOP tomato, an emblem of Italian cuisine. FT (Food Times). December 30, 2023

(4) Dario Dongo. Preserves, an analysis is enough to reveal the origin of tomatoes. FT (Food Times). June 26, 2020

(5) Dario Dongo. Tomato Preserves Breasts, commercial fraud. Maxi-seizure of RACs. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 26.4.21

(6) The Giaguaro group had in turn threatened to claim millions of dollars in damages and forced the award-winning author Jean-Baptiste Malet not to publish his book ‘Rotten tomato’ in Italy. See Mark Williams. It’s Banned Books Week. Spare a thought for a French book banned in Italy this year. The news publishing standard. 24.9.18, https://tinyurl.com/yk9bk4pb

(7) The third largest tomato canning industry in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, Attianese SpA, has also been implicated in the Carabinieri investigation for commercial fraud and other serious crimes. See previous articles:
-Dario Dongo. Attianese, fraud on tomato origin and illegal pesticides, maxi-seizure of RAC. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 8.6.21

-Dario Dongo. Attianese, in addition to the fraud on the origin of the tomato, corruption and illegal hiring. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.3.22

(8) Dario Dongo. Tomato Industry and Experimental Station of Parma, SSICA. Red alert. #VanghePulite. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 2.5.21

(9) Dario Dongo. Agri-food blockchain, from Walmart to the FDA in the USA, Wiise Chain in Italy. To the Web 3. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).

(10) Dario Dongo. The social cost of food spending. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 28.6.18