MOST OF THE 'EXTRA VIRGIN' OLIVE OIL IMPORTED FROM ITALY IS PROBABLY FAKE, THANKS TO THE MAFIA - "60 MINUTES"

Cheese, Wine Can be Tainted or Fake - "60 Minutes" Cameras Get Rare Access to Italian Carabinieri as They Taste and Try to Root Out the Fraud

The good news is Italian authorities seized 7,000 tons of fake extra virgin olive oil last month, winning a small battle against the traditional Mafia and other organized criminal groups running an estimated $16 billion a year scam. The bad news is most of the oil was headed to the U.S., an indication that much of the "extra virgin" Italian olive sold in America is also probably fake. Bill Whitaker's story on the "Agromafia" will be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 3 (7:30-8:30 PM, ET/7:00-8:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Major Sergio Tirro of the Italian state police, the Carabinieri, is on the front lines of the food fraud battle. The Italians take such fraud very seriously. When food and wine is not only a crucial cultural signature, but also an important export, rooting out fraud is a federal case. "Yes. We can call ourselves the FBI of food," says Tirro, whose unit has confiscated 59,000 tons of food over the past two years.

He guides Whitaker on a tour of his operation that includes typical police work, such as investigations and surveillance. But his is a special operation that includes 60 tasters whose expert palates can discern extra virgin olive oil from adulterated products. Watch an excerpt. A gallon of extra-virgin olive oil, pure from the first press, can cost up to $50. To create an imitation with seed oil or other substances can cost just $7. The profit is more than the Mafia can make on a drug like cocaine.

The fake olive oil can be dangerous to certain people, too, Tirro points out. "It is a serious problem because it's not only a commercial fraud. If you adulterate an extra virgin olive oil with seed oil and those bottles reach consumers who are allergic to seed oil, you are sending them bombs," he tells Whitaker.

Whitaker also reports on other ways the mafia is entrenched in Italy's food industry, from forcing farmers to use their laborers to extorting merchants.

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