The Great Maple Syrup Heist

[Rockphed]

Originally Posted by noparlpf

Well, one liter will sell for maybe USD 20. (I think? I last bought maple syrup a year and a half ago, my mum or grandmother buys it otherwise.) So USD 30M would be 1.5M liters, as a rough estimate. If so that's half the reserve.

A quick google search tells us that a gallon of maple syrup is worth about $100 US. A 50 gallon drum is about .5 m in diameter and .9 m high, so $500 of syrup would take up .18 cubic meters of space. So $30 million would take up about 10,000 cubic meters, or a cube about 10 meters on a side. Alternatively, it would take about 100 semi-trailers filled to the brim to carry all the syrup.

I hope I didn't make a mistake somewhere in my math. Whoops, I totally had an extra power of ten that I should not have been using.

[shawnhcorey]

Originally Posted by noparlpf

Well, one liter will sell for maybe USD 20. (I think? I last bought maple syrup a year and a half ago, my mum or grandmother buys it otherwise.) So USD 30M would be 1.5M liters, as a rough estimate. If so that's half the reserve.

This article say more than ¼ of the reserve. Apparently the thieves were clever; they left behind the empty barrels. One expect thinks it was an inside job. After all, who else would have the contacts to sell it?

[noparlpf]

Originally Posted by Rockphed

A quick google search tells us that a gallon of maple syrup is worth about $100 US. A 50 gallon drum is about .5 m in diameter and .9 m high, so $500 of syrup would take up 1.8 cubic meters of space. So $30 million would take up about 100,000 cubic meters, or a cube about 47 meters on a side. Alternatively, it would take about 1000 semi-trailers filled to the brim to carry all the syrup.

I hope I didn't make a mistake somewhere in my math.

That's probably the really high-quality syrup then, because I've seen gallons selling for around USD 50. I think USD 20 per liter is a decent middle-range price, because that USD 50 per gallon translates to about USD 14 per liter.

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

This article say more than ¼ of the reserve. Apparently the thieves were clever; they left behind the empty barrels. One expect thinks it was an inside job. After all, who else would have the contacts to sell it?

Yeah, probably. Makes sense. But who would think there'd be a maple syrup black market?

[shawnhcorey]

Originally Posted by noparlpf

Yeah, probably. Makes sense. But who would think there'd be a maple syrup black market?

I think they were implying that it was stolen over time. The empty barrels would make that possible. Still, that's a lot of pancakes to eat.

[grimbold]

Originally Posted by noparlpf

Yeah, probably. Makes sense. But who would think there'd be a maple syrup black market?

did you know literally no one in the history of man has had real olive oil?


seriously...
it's all diluted by the mafia


seriously

[Devmaar]

Originally Posted by grimbold

did you know literally no one in the history of man has had real olive oil?


seriously...
it's all diluted by the mafia


seriously

Olive farmers?

[Mercenary Pen]

Originally Posted by grimbold

did you know literally no one in the history of man has had real olive oil?


seriously...
it's all diluted by the mafia


seriously

Originally Posted by Devmaar

Olive farmers?

People from before the mafia existed (or at least before it reached the lands in which they lived)?

[willpell]

Not to mention I'd assume they don't dilute the stuff they use themselves.

[Kneenibble]

Originally Posted by grimbold

did you know literally no one in the history of man has had real olive oil?


seriously...
it's all diluted by the mafia


seriously

I hope your only source for this statement isn't a certain cracked.com "article."

[Bulldog Psion]

Originally Posted by Kneenibble

I hope your only source for this statement isn't a certain cracked.com "article."

No, my dad read a book about it, I'll see if I can find out the title of it from him later for those who are interested. But yes, the olive oil is all diluted stuff nowadays. Even the mafia themselves use it -- they don't care as long as they're raking in the dough. It's basically impossible to get real olive oil.

"Whole history" is a bit exaggerated, though, since the dilution started in the 1920s, IIRC.

[Kneenibble]

Originally Posted by Bulldog Psion

No, my dad read a book about it, I'll see if I can find out the title of it from him later for those who are interested. But yes, the olive oil is all diluted stuff nowadays. Even the mafia themselves use it -- they don't care as long as they're raking in the dough. It's basically impossible to get real olive oil.

"Whole history" is a bit exaggerated, though, since the dilution started in the 1920s, IIRC.

I would be interested if you can find it out.

My doubts, however -- not that adulteration happens, but that it occurs so ubiquitously -- remain high.

[pendell]

Wikipedia has this to say

With Italian extra-virgin olive oil in high demand with concomitant high prices, adulterated olive oil has become the biggest source of agricultural fraud problems in the European Union.[6] While less than 10% of world olive oil production meets the criteria for labeling as extra-virgin, it has been estimated that up to 50% of retail oil is labeled "extra-virgin".[7] Some oil labeled "extra-virgin" is diluted with cheaper olive oils or other vegetable oils. In some cases, lampante, or "lamp oil," which is made from spoiled olives fallen from trees, is used, even though it can't legally be sold as food. One fraud ring is accused of coloring low-grade soy oil and canola oil with industrial chlorophyll, and flavoring it with beta-carotene.[6]

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't routinely test imported olive oil for adulteration, and some products are difficult to test.


An article by[Tom Mueller in the August 13, 2007 issue of The New Yorker states that major Italian shippers routinely adulterate olive oil and that only about 40% of olive oil sold as "extra virgin" actually meets the specification.[8] In some cases, colza oil with added color and flavor has been labeled and sold as olive oil.[9] This extensive fraud prompted the Italian government to mandate a new labeling law in 2007 for companies selling olive oil, under which every bottle of Italian olive oil would have to declare the farm and press on which it was produced, as well as display a precise breakdown of the oils used, for blended oils.[10] In February 2008, however, EU officials took issue with the new law, stating that under EU rules such labeling should be voluntary rather than compulsory.[11] Under EU rules, olive oil may be sold as Italian even if it only contains a small amount of Italian oil.[10]

So .. it has happened and continues to happen. It's a major fraud problem. But it doesn't seem to me that no one in the world has unadulterated olive oil. But since it is fairly easy to counterfeit and there aren't many reliable tests, it's a common fraud.

The olive oil times seems to corroborate this

*Makes note for his own eventual life of crime in retirement*.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[sktarq]

As for the olive oil bit. Having had the stuff where the Mafia isn't very active in this field (California, Morrocco) and having had it strait from the presses (and the end of the machine-they gave us samples) I can say that I even in 2010 had pure olive oil.
But yes most of the store bought stuff is strongly adulterated. . .

[Elemental]

I'm not sure about all olive oil being adulterated... But claiming it doesn't happen is much too hopeful.

Anyway... I just checked the olive oil in our cupboard, and its Spanish. And it says one hundred percent extra virgin olive oil, and it's an Australian owned company... So, I think it might be reasonably pure.
If it were made in Australia, once could reasonably assume it to be pure, but I don't think we grow that many olive trees.

[willpell]

There is an "Olive Oil Times?" I am in awe.

Originally Posted by Elemental

If it were made in Australia, once could reasonably assume it to be pure, but I don't think we grow that many olive trees.

So there is no organized crime in Australia which would take over the Australian olive oil trade if it were big enough, and then commence diluting the oil?

[Elemental]

Originally Posted by willpell

So there is no organized crime in Australia which would take over the Australian olive oil trade if it were big enough, and then commence diluting the oil?

There's organised crime, obviously, but it's not a big thing.

And if Australian started adulterating their olive oil to a level that was detectable, then a ton of media shaped bricks would descend on them.
I mean... Seriously, our media has nothing better to do than exposing fraud. Every other night, there's a section on something nutrition related. Just last week, they told us which fast food chains sold the healthiest chips. KFC for those who are interested.

[Bulldog Psion]

The book is "Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit" by Mort Rosenblum. Apparently, after talking to my dad about the book, it's a lot easier to get good olive oil outside the United States than in it, according to this book. You can get it here, too, but you have to work at it and probably pay quite a bit more.

[Kneenibble]

Originally Posted by Bulldog Psion

The book is "Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit" by Mort Rosenblum. Apparently, after talking to my dad about the book, it's a lot easier to get good olive oil outside the United States than in it, according to this book. You can get it here, too, but you have to work at it and probably pay quite a bit more.

Of that I was already aware -- Canada takes a more strict view of what Extra Virgin &c. means than the USA. I was also aware that quality olive oil costs a lot more. Again, I don't dispute that there's a racket involved, only that it happens across the board as a certain cracked.com "article" purports.

Thanks for the book title, I really enjoy that kind of non-fiction.

[willpell]

Originally Posted by Bulldog Psion

it's a lot easier to get good olive oil outside the United States than in it, according to this book. You can get it here, too, but you have to work at it and probably pay quite a bit more.

This is true of practically all products, isn't it?

[grimbold]

i'm surprised i kicked off such a massive discussion...

a bit on sumerian olive oil fraud can be found HERE

[Bulldog Psion]

Originally Posted by willpell

This is true of practically all products, isn't it?

Yes, pretty much. Although the U.S. is great in this regard compared to Eastern Europe, which I've visited quite a bit.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Now that a few weeks have gone by, has anyone seen or heard anthing more about this? Did they ever find out whodunnit? Did they ever get an exact figure for how much syrup was stolen? etc...

[Knight13]

You'd think they could just look for a really big tanker truck that smells really, really good.

And is covered in bees.

[noparlpf]

Originally Posted by Kelb_Panthera

Now that a few weeks have gone by, has anyone seen or heard anthing more about this? Did they ever find out whodunnit? Did they ever get an exact figure for how much syrup was stolen? etc...

I thought I read somewhere a number for how much was stolen.
Anyway, no, I haven't seen any updates, and I have been checking. (Maple syrup is a big deal.)

[Kelb_Panthera]

Originally Posted by noparlpf

I thought I read somewhere a number for how much was stolen.
Anyway, no, I haven't seen any updates, and I have been checking. (Maple syrup is a big deal.)

One of the articles released right after it happened had a figure that looked to me like it had some news-media math used to come up with it, but I haven't heard anything since.

[shawnhcorey]

Originally Posted by Kelb_Panthera

One of the articles released right after it happened had a figure that looked to me like it had some news-media math used to come up with it, but I haven't heard anything since.

No, it was released right after it was discovered. Apparently, the thieves were removing the syrup but leaving the empty barrels behind, so no-one would notice right away. No-one knows how long it has been going on.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Originally Posted by shawnhcorey

No, it was released right after it was discovered. Apparently, the thieves were removing the syrup but leaving the empty barrels behind, so no-one would notice right away. No-one knows how long it has been going on.

That's what I meant. I simply misspoke.

....... well, mistyped anyway.

[Jay R]

Originally Posted by Creed

That article forced me to collapse onto my desk with laughter. Maple syrup?! How do you FENCE that much maple syrup? What do you DO with it? More importantly, who decides: "Hey, I'm going to go steal the maple syrup. ALL OF IT."

Also, why are all the rest of the thieves wasting their time stealing mere money?

[Gravitron5000]

Good news, everyone!

Police Seize More Than 600 Barrels of Maple Syrup

[Traab]

I love how they are treating it like a plutonium shipment with all the talk about police escorts and such. I mean, we gotta make sure it makes it there safe, why, with that size of a shipment the bandits will be out in force to hijack it!