How to Know if Your 'Italian' Ingredients Are Actually Italian

How to sniff out imposters and ensure you’re buying the “real deal,” according to an Italian-American cook.

When buying Italian food products, you obviously want to make sure that what you're paying for is the real deal. The industry is flooded with dishonesty and imitations that prey on America's love of quality Italian products. For many companies, it's far more cost-effective to source and produce their goods in America and then slap an Italian-sounding label on so that a premium can be charged in the market. Of course, at the end of the day, what's more important than spotting the fakes is keeping an eye towards the quality.

What You Should Look For To Authenticate Italian Products

The market is rife with imposters for items like Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, San Marzano tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Thankfully, these ingredients are so prized in Italy that they are subject to a specific set of parameters in order to be called “the real thing.” This is called a DOP in Italy, which translates to "designated protected origin." This protection set forth by the Italian government specifies precisely how and where an item can be made to use the official name. In order to make sure you're getting an authentic item, look for the DOP seal on the label. It's a red and yellow logo with a sun motif; you'll usually see it at the bottom of the front-facing product label.

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Any actual Italian language on the label is also always a plus. Many imported products will have the nutrition facts in the Italian format with American nutrition facts printed as a sticker and placed on top; that's a good indicator the item was manufactured in Italy.

Common Fakes

San Marzano Tomatoes

San Marzano tomatoes are a strain of tomatoes that can only receive the DOP label if they are grown, harvested, and processed under special conditions in the San Marzano region of Italy. The seeds are widely available, and many domestic producers grow what are technically San Marzano-style tomatoes; they're the same seeds but are grown in different soil and conditions than the traditional Italian variety. These hothouse tomatoes taste much different than the authentic variety, but American brands try to charge just as much for these tomatoes by using the same name.

In the case of San Marzano tomatoes, brands will use misleading verbiage to circumvent the truth that they're impostors. Look out for anything that says "San Marzano Style" or "Italian Style" when describing the tomatoes. Another dead giveaway is anything that alludes to tomatoes grown in America or elsewhere besides Italy.

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano is another product that has DOP status from the Italian government. Before even looking for any DOP information, a good place to start is the name. The real-deal Italian cheese will be labeled as “Parmigiano Reggiano,” not simply, "Parmesan." Only one type of cheese can legally be called Parmigiano Reggiano, and that holds the DOP protection; everything else is typically a similar style. Some Parm-Reg fakes are actually produced in Italy, which can make it confusing when "Product of Italy'' is stamped on the label. That said, these will still generally be much closer to the authentic style (in terms of production method, flavor, and texture) than anything produced by Kraft.

Balsamic Vinegar

This may come as a shock, but most of the balsamic vinegar in grocery stores is fake by Italian standards. Authentic balsamic is quite expensive to make and import. The traditional process takes a significant amount of time with relatively little yield, so many brands try to replicate the flavor with cheaper ingredients that can be thrown together and don't require the traditional 12 years of aging. True balsamic vinegar is made in the Italian city of Modena and has the consistency of thick syrup. Many officials govern the entire process, from how the grapes are harvested to the type of wood the vinegar is aged in, which means the whole process is incredibly involved and expensive.

To spot real aceto balsamico, look at the label. A DOP seal is a good start, but the secret is in the ingredients — there should only be one: grape must. Additionally, authentic Italian balsamic vinegar always has a numbered, red wax seal at the top of the bottle, in line with the rules for its DOP.

Olive Oil

​​Olive oil is the most commonly counterfeited Italian food product, with oil from many countries being labeled as Italian. Olives grown or pressed worldwide are often shipped to Italy for processing, gaining them a "Mande in Italy" label, which is not technically untrue — but I think we can all agree is a bit dishonest. Look for an oil that denotes olives grown in Italy.

The more information on the label, the better; look for harvest and press dates or any language naming the region it was produced in, or type of olive used. Another thing to look for is single-origin oil; blended oils are almost always subpar and include olives from many other countries.

How to Spot the Posers

Beyond the DOP label, the price is one of the best ways to sniff out fakes. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. High-quality products cost money. A one-pound hunk of true Parmigiano Reggiano can cost upward of $20, while it's not uncommon to find a similar-sized piece of non-DOP Parmesan at your local grocery store for $5 to $10. The same goes for canned tomatoes. The cost reflects the time, energy, and resources that go into growing actual San Marzano tomatoes in Italy and shipping them abroad.

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Pay close attention to the language used on the label; many producers trying to pull one over on shoppers regarding the origins and quality of their products will be intentionally deceptive. Phrases like "Italian Style" are common ways to suggest an authentic Italian product without authenticity. Beyond looking for "Made in Italy," look for specific cities or regions. Additionally, if there's any mention of American cities or states on the label or as qualifiers on the ingredients list, don’t count on it being a true Italian product.