Italy Cops Seize 2,500 Tons of False Organic Food

Italian police have seized 2,500 tons of grains, fruits and soy products that were falsely labled as organic in a food fraud ring that exported phony organic products across Europe.

Italy’s financial police in Vernoa said seven people were arrested Tuesday in the operation that uncovered the complicity of officials in several cities who were responsible for certifying food as organic.

While 2,500 tons of food were seized, the four-year fraud involved the false labling and distribution of some 700,000 tons of food worth some (euro) 220 million ($294 million).

Police said some of it remained in Italy, but products were also exported to the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland.