Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Certain Capatriti Olive Oils Are Adulterated with Industrial Fat

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The Gourmet Factory has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that two of its Capatriti olive oils do not contain pure, genuine olive oil as advertised.

Want to stay in the loop on class action lawsuits that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 32-page fraud lawsuit asserts that Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil and Capatriti Extra Virgin Olive Oil are advertised as containing only pure olive oil even though the products are adulterated with olive pomace, an odorless, flavorless and ultra-processed industrial fat. The filing stresses that although olive pomace is a byproduct of olive oil production, the substance is decidedly not olive oil due to the specific chemical processes used to extract and refine it.

The lawsuit contends that the Gourmet Factory’s alleged mislabeling renders the products “worthless” and “dupes” consumers into purchasing what is essentially an industrial byproduct of genuine olive oil manufacturing.

Olive pomace, a processed crude oil, does not adhere to the highly specialized definition of olive oil promulgated by international governing bodies, the suit shares. The case says that “no recognized regulatory body or organization in the world” permits manufacturers to pass off olive pomace products as genuine olive oil. In fact, pomace must be refined or combined with olive oil just to make it “fit for human consumption,” the lawsuit points out.

The complaint says that in early 2025, a prominent olive oil trade association sent Capatriti product samples, stripped of all labels or markings, to an approved lab in Spain for testing.

Per the case, Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil showed wax, erythrodial and uvaol content well above the acceptable limits determined by the International Olive Council for olive oil, which “simply could not have occurred” without the use of olive pomace, as “these markers do not appear by happenstance.”

Similarly, testing of Capatriti Extra Virgin Olive Oil revealed excessive levels of erythrodial and uvaol, as well as a chemical created during the olive pomace refinement process, the lawsuit relays.

According to the suit, olive oil is widely regarded by consumers to be one of the healthiest cooking oils because it is minimally processed, with a robust and “far superior” taste compared with oil blended with olive pomace. The lawsuit argues that regardless of their preferences, shoppers have a reasonable interest in what they are consuming and should be able to rely on a product’s packaging and representations.

The labeling of the Capatriti products at issue presents the “unequivocal message” that the items contain only olive oil, the filing says. The lawsuit claims the alleged misrepresentations are intended to compel consumers to pay a premium price for Capatriti blended olive oil products that should be cheaper based on the ingredients. The suit adds that both Capatriti olive oils currently sell for $0.53 per fluid ounce, while a competitor’s blended pomace oil retails for about $0.16 per fluid ounce.

One plaintiff, who purchased Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil for about $35 in September 2025, claims he quickly discovered that the “flavorless and odorless” product did not resemble other olive oils he had bought previously. The consumer says he threw it away before finishing it and was forced to spend more money on a container of genuine, pure olive oil. Had he known the Capatriti oil was adulterated, the plaintiff would have paid less for the product or avoided it altogether, the filing alleges.

The Capatriti olive oil class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who purchased the products in the United States within the applicable statute of limitations period.

Check out ClassAction.org’s free legal resources to learn how to file a class action lawsuit.