If you really love Made in Italy, the Reliabitaly app goes beyond food. Curious shoppers looking for an authentic item of clothing or select home goods will also be able to check the origin of their clothes and accessories that claim to be Italian.
The free app Reliabitaly can be used in Italy and many countries around the globe. Consumers verify the products’ codes to check if they are really of Italian origin. The app will also tell shoppers how the item was made.
One of the biggest Italian-made food fraud products flooding the market is cheese. Sales of foreign-made Parmesan online cost Italy an estimated $64 million a year. But the biggest victim of food fraud is the olive oil industry. Farmers can’t compete with the lower-priced and lower-quality of foreign oils which claim to be of Italian origin. Italy strictly regulates its own standard of extra-virgin olive oil: the packaging of the oil must state when non-Italian olives have been used and must not mislead consumers with use of Italian symbols like the national flag.
