Italians cut back on olive oil as prices surge, survey says. Producers are pushing back on that WSB-TV Channel 2 [Video]

MILAN — (AP) — One-third of Italians have reduced their consumption of extra virgin olive oil, a mainstay of the Mediterranean diet, due to skyrocketing prices, according to a survey released Friday.

But Italian producers are pushing back against the data, saying the snapshot of consumer sentiment does not give a full picture — and that sales of higher-quality Italian extra virgin olive oil are actually up.

Consumers reported cutting back consumption of extra virgin olive oil by at least 30% to as much as half as average supermarket prices have risen from 4 euros to 9 euros a bottle, according to a survey by the Piepoli independent research institute.

Nearly half of those questioned said they were substituting olive oil with cheaper seed oil. The survey of 500 Italian adults had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The reported drop in consumption is much less of a hit than in other olive oil-producing Mediterranean Sea countries, …