Olive Oil Fraud Exposed: How FDA Warnings Inspired an Indie Thriller

The Real Crime Behind Cold Pressed: Olive Oil Fraud Exposed

When I first read that a large percentage of olive oil sold in the U.S. is adulterated—cut with cheaper oils, mislabeled, or fraudulently marketed—I was stunned. Not just because I love olive oil (I do), but because the deception was so widespread, so unchecked, and so invisible. This wasn’t just some under-the-table scam; it was a global operation hidden in plain sight, right on grocery store shelves.

That’s when the idea for Cold Pressed was born.

Why the Truth About Olive Oil Matters

The danger isn’t just in what we eat—it’s in the failure of the systems meant to protect us. Recent headlines about the FDA’s weakening oversight brought it all rushing back for me. Under the Trump administration, severe budget and staffing cuts hit the agency hard—especially the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), which oversees roughly 80% of the U.S. food supply, including essentials like milk, produce, cheese—and yes, olive oil.

Across the broader Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), those cuts gutted food safety programs that keep contaminated products off our tables. Even worse, the Department of Justice disbanded its Consumer Protection Branch, stripping away a critical layer of legal accountability for companies that violate food laws.

The FDA even suspended its milk testing programs due to staff shortages—raising serious concerns about consistency in food safety labs across the country. Experts now warn that the U.S. may be dangerously underprepared to detect and contain foodborne illness outbreaks.

Reading all this reminded me exactly why I made Cold Pressed in the first place.

FDA Oversight and the Collapse of Food Safety

My research started with a dive into the FDA’s role. The division responsible for food products like olive oil is the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). They inspect food for safety, quality, and truth in labeling. But what struck me wasn’t just what they do—it was how overwhelmed the system is.

What Import Alert 99-47 Reveals

One alert—Import Alert 99-47—allows the FDA to detain olive oil products at the border if they’re suspected of fraud or adulteration. Let that sink in: some shipments are so untrustworthy that they’re banned without testing. That’s how bad it is.

And yet, olive oil continues to be one of the most commonly adulterated food products in the world.

From Corruption to Cinema: The Story of Cold Pressed

The more I dug, the clearer it became: this wasn’t just a story about food—it was a story about people. About greed. About lies. About how corruption starts small, gets normalized, and spreads like oil in water.

George Leggiere and the Real-Life Inspiration

In Cold Pressed, George Leggiere is an unscrupulous olive oil importer who has it all—money, power, a beautiful wife. But he’s built it on fraud. And like real-world offenders, he’s convinced himself it’s just business. Until one night, a mysterious man offers him a deal he can’t refuse—and everything starts to unravel.

The film doesn’t just expose the corruption in the olive oil trade. It mirrors it in George’s relationships—with his wife, his business partners, and himself. Because fraud, like rancid oil, always finds its way through the cracks.

Why Food Fraud Is a Threat to Public Health

People hear “food fraud” and think of watered-down wine or fake Kobe beef. But olive oil fraud is dangerous. It can trigger allergic reactions. It can hide harmful chemicals. And it erodes trust—both in what we eat and in the systems that are supposed to protect us.

Just like the prescription drug industry was the focus of Side Effects, and the diamond trade powered Blood Diamond, I wanted Cold Pressed to shine a light on something most people overlook—because it’s literally sitting in their kitchen.

See the Film: Cold Pressed Streaming Now

I shot Cold Pressed on Kodak 16mm film to channel the raw, gritty aesthetic of '70s crime thrillers like The Conversation and The French Connection. But the real grit is in the story: a man whose entire world is built on a lie, and the chaos that follows when that lie is exposed.

Because when fraud becomes routine—whether in food, love, or business—someone always pays the price.

What’s In Your Bottle?

The next time you reach for a bottle of olive oil, ask yourself: how do you know what’s really inside?

Watch Cold Pressed now—available on major streaming platforms. Discover the truth behind your bottle of olive oil and see how far someone will go to protect a lie.