MADRID, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- In a bid to spur sales, the Spanish government has passed a law requiring eateries to serve olive oil only in its original packaging, identifying the brand.
Bars and restaurants will be required, starting in 2014, to ditch the generic glass bottles that adorn tables across the country and serve olive oil in the purveyor's original bottle, ThinkSpain reported. In order to prevent refilling old bottles, the pourers must have a no-refill top.
Tourism officials said most visitors only encounter olive oil in bars and restaurants and they rarely know what brand they're being served. The law is also a guard against bars using lower quality oil and marketing it as something more expensive.
Similar laws are already in place in Portugal and Italy.
The law takes effect Jan. 1, though in order to run down stock, businesses won't be required to begin using the original bottles until March.
