San Marzano tomato fraud is a hot topic in Italy. And for good reason! According to Il Sole 24 Ore, one of the most widely-read and respected newspapers in the country:
“Overseas, only a very small percentage of packaged tomatoes on supermarket shelves are actually San Marzano. Despite the regulations, San Marzanos are the most counterfeited Italian product.”
That’s right. More than parmigiano reggiano cheese, more than luxury fashion items, San Marzano tomatoes experience the highest instances of fraud.
Il Sole 24 Ore, aka the Financial Times of Italy, spoke with Paolo Ruggiero of Gustarosso to dig deeper. San Marzano Tomatoes are in Ruggiero’s DNA. His historic cooperative brings together 25 farmers in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese who grow San Marzano tomatoes using traditional methods. Together, they produce 800 quintals (roughly 88 tons) of tomatoes on 15 hectares (37 acres) of land.
“[San Marzano tomatoes] only come from selected cultivars grown in the Sarno plain, in soils of clay and volcanic deposits, rich in organic substances.”
San Marzano Tomato Fraud is Rampant
In Europe, “San Marzano” is a protected name reserved only for very specific tomatoes. They must meet the strict DOP standards of the European Union. These tomatoes are 100% protected and traceable thanks to stringent labeling standards. Each can has a unique serial number connecting it to its harvest date and even to the individual farmer. That’s not the case in the US, where you can “call any kind of tomato San Marzano.” According to Paolo:
“There were even some who reprinted the numbers of the original labels, passing off regular Italian peeled tomatoes as our DOP”
If that’s not fraud, we don’t know what is! Too many brands in the US intentionally mislead consumers into paying a premium price for tomatoes pretending to be something they’re not.
Ultimately, this is damaging to the honest farmers working in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese. If it were up to Paolo:
“The Agro Nocerino Sarnese should be for San Marzanos like the region of Champagne is for bubbles, that regulates and values the entire production chain with protective actions and promotion of the denomination”
We totally agree. But in the meantime, the only way to protect yourself against fraudulent tomatoes is to go with producers you can trust. Paolo and Gustarosso bring us authentic San Marzano Tomatoes at a price that’s fair to the farmers who grow them, and you can bet you’ll taste the difference.