Supermarkets promise to put a stop to ‘cruel’ olive oil harvesting

BRITISH supermarkets have admitted that they could be selling olive oil produced in a way which kills millions of songbirds every year.

Many harvesters across Italy, Spain and France suck olives from trees using machines at night, which means that sleeping birds who have found sanctuary in the olive branches are being sucked to their deaths.

These companies harvest during the evening because the cooler air temperatures are believed to preserve the aroma of the olives.

Birds including robins, goldfinches, greenfinches, warblers and wagtails are among the worst affected during the harvest season, which is between October and January.

Findings in the journal Nature suggested that more than two million birds were killed in Spain alone in a year. An investigation by The Telegraph found that British supermarket shelves are likely to be stocking olive oils produced in this method.

Supermarkets including Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s could not confirm whether the brands they stock are machine-harvested at night.

A Tesco spokesman said the supermarket is investigating how it will pick olives for its oils this year after concerns were raised by shoppers.

He said: “All the whole olives that we sell are harvested during the day by hand or by using hand-held tools. We won’t be harvesting olives for olive oil until October.

“We’re currently looking into how we pick these olives so, by the time it comes to harvest them, all the necessary changes will have been made.”

Waitrose and Sainsbury’s spokesmen confirmed that their own-brand olives and olive products are handpicked, but did not confirm whether the other brands they stock are similarly ethical. A Waitrose spokesman added: “All the olives that are either destined to be used in Waitrose table olives or Waitrose olive oils are either picked by hand or picked using a handheld tool.”

Major olive oil brand Filippo Berio is investigating its olive sourcing after being contacted. A spokesman said in a statement: “As far as we are aware, all the co-operatives that Filippo Berio buy olive oil from have mills that work during the day and clean-up at night. We will keep consumers updated as and when we have more information.”

Consumers who want to make sure they are using bird-friendly olive oil should check for “FAO GIAHS” on Italian olive oil brands. It stands for “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System” which means it is picked by hand.

Brands which confirmed they handpick their olives are mostly the smaller, more expensive ones. These include Clearspring, Donna Lucia, Morocco Gold, Kalios, Olivocracy, Oro del Desierto, Terre di San Vito and Zaytoun.