Healthy Italia - Cooking School and Private Events — Attraction in Madison

I am writing this review because customers deserve the full truth about Healthy Italia. After months of documenting their products, responses, and behavior, it’s clear they are misleading people with claims of “authentic Italian” food.

🚩 Fake & Misleading Labeling Healthy Italia sells items under names like “Taggiasca Extra Virgin Olive Oil” and “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena,” but their bottles have no DOP or IGP seals — the EU marks that guarantee authenticity. Real Italian products (like my Garda DOP olive oil or Mussini Balsamic IGP) clearly display these certifications. Healthy Italia’s versions look generic, untraceable, and would never pass in Italy.

🚩 Bait-and-Switch Products They quietly removed panettone and colomba cakes after being called out. They also swap product photos (example: their Taggiasca olive oil) hoping customers won’t notice. Authentic importers don’t need to play these games — their quality speaks for itself.

🚩 Shady Pricing Tricks After negative reviews appeared, their free shipping threshold suddenly dropped from $100+ to $79. That isn’t generosity — it’s desperation. Their balsamic vinegar is heavily marked up compared to reputable stores like Supermarket Italy, Eataly, or Olive Oil Lovers, which all sell certified Italian goods at fair prices.

🚩 Ignoring Accountability When the BBB contacted them, Healthy Italia dodged direct questions and delayed responses. They never gave proof of authenticity because they can’t. Real companies proudly show certifications — this one hides.

🚩 Customer Reviews Ignored Google reviews already expose the same issues: overpriced products, poor service, fake authenticity. Healthy Italia ignores serious complaints and only interacts with shallow positive comments. Silence is their strategy, but silence is also proof.

✅ The Bottom Line Healthy Italia misrepresents products, dodges accountability, and hides behind marketing tricks instead of proving authenticity. Their bottles have no seals, no certification, and no credibility. Meanwhile, real Italian brands like Ponti, Mussini, and Frantoi di Riva put their seals, heritage, and awards directly on the label.

Photos attached show side-by-side comparisons:

Healthy Italia’s Taggiasca EVOO ❌ gold foil, no DOP/IGP seal, tasted blended and rancid.

My S’Ciappau Taggiasca EVOO (Liguria) ✅ clearly labeled “100% Prodotto Italiano,” authentic flavor, certified origin.

Real Garda DOP vs. their “Garda oil” (no DOP seal).

Real Ponti vinegar and vs. their fake “Columbus” vinegar.

Real Mussini balsamic with IGP seal vs. their unverified bottle. The difference is obvious even to the untrained eye.

Buyer beware: Healthy Italia is NOT authentic Italy.

Edit (in response to Healthy Italia’s copy-paste reply): You didn’t answer a single point. Instead, you copy-pasted the same canned response you threw at another review, hoping nobody would notice. But I noticed. Customers notice too.

Let’s make this simple: DOP and IGP seals are not “optional.” They are the legal proof of authenticity in Italy, and every serious producer knows it. The fact that you dismissed them shows you don’t understand the very products you’re trying to sell.

Your “Garda” oil came from Southern Italy, your “Taggiasca” oil tasted rancid and blended, and your “balsamic vinegars” included cheap condiments mixed in with real IGP bottles. That’s not transparency — that’s deception.

If you had real proof, you’d show certifications, harvest years, and seals. Instead, you hide behind excuses and repeat the same copy-paste line. That’s not how authentic Italian importers operate.

Final word: If you can’t back it up with proof, stop calling it Italian.

“Funny how you only reply to my reviews but ignore others accusing you of expired food. Selective ‘transparency’ isn’t...

I am writing from Liguria, Italy 🇮🇹, and I want to warn Americans and others who may believe Healthy Italia is selling authentic products. Their marketing creates the illusion of Italy — reels of pasta being made, posts from Lake Garda, crostata desserts — but the products they list and sell tell a completely different story.

Let’s begin with the olive oils. They claim to sell Taggiasca Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but the taste described by customers is rancid and blended — completely unlike the smooth, fruity, authentic Taggiasca oil produced in Liguria. Their so-called Garda oil is extremely bitter, not at all like the DOP-certified bottles sold here in Italy. When a business presents olive oil as “authentic” but it does not resemble the certified standard, that is fraud.

Their balsamic vinegars are another huge red flag. On their site you find everything: IGP “Perla Oro,” DOP bottles priced at hundreds of dollars, flavored dressings like “cherry balsamic,” white condiments, and low-grade vinegars all placed together. In Italy, these are never treated as the same. Flavored condiments cannot be called true balsamic vinegar of Modena. White “balsamic” is not recognized under the traditional consortia. Healthy Italia is deliberately mixing real categories with imitations to mislead Americans into believing everything is “traditional Modena.”

They even listed panettone and colomba cakes, presenting them as authentic, but quietly removed them from their shop after people questioned the authenticity. I have been watching their website closely, showing it to my family here in Liguria, and everyone agrees: no Italian would consider these products authentic. They are targeting Americans who may not know the strict rules of DOP and IGP, charging inflated prices for items that would never pass inspection in Italy.

Changing product photos (such as altering the background of Taggiasca olive oil) and removing listings when exposed is not transparency — it is a cover-up. Authentic producers are proud of their seals and history. They do not need to constantly adjust images or hide items.

Healthy Italia wants to sell the dream of Italy, but what they actually deliver is confusion, poor quality, and exploitation. As someone born and living in Italy, I can say with certainty: this is not how true Italian food culture works. Please do not be fooled by their marketing.

Edit (in response to Healthy Italia’s reply): With all due respect, as someone from Liguria I have to say your answer is flat-out wrong. In Italy, DOP and IGP seals are not “optional” labels — they are the legal guarantee of origin and authenticity that serious producers proudly display. To dismiss them the way you did is not just misleading, it shows you don’t understand how Italian food culture actually works. No real Ligurian producer would ever try to sell Taggiasca olive oil without those seals. Saying otherwise makes you look careless, and frankly, not...

Healthy Italia is an overpriced store that sells “high quality” products from Italy. Do not be misled by these products! Most are expired and have had their expiration dates cut off or have stickers with the last day of the year (EXAMPLE 12/31/25) as an expiration date stickered over the old expiration date.

The clearest example of this is the cantucci (biscotti) they sell in the store. It’s all had the expiration dates cut off or a new expiration date sticker put on top of the old label!

You can also buy everything “Healthy Italia” sells at Eataly for a fraction of the price and the quality and ingredients are much better!

Furthermore be very careful when buying from the refrigerator section in the front of the store front as I have seen green prosciutto being sold! They also sell “homemade baguettes” which aren’t even made in house….

Healthy Italia also provides a cooking school that uses expired ingredients (olive oil, balsamic vinegar and anything else the owner refuses to throw out even though she knows these items are expired!) Imagine paying hundreds of dollars on a class to use expired products!

Obviously being on The Fixer was a waste of time as the owner has not taken any of Marcus’s advice!

Steer clear of this disaster of a store and go to The Mall at Short Hills and give Eataly your...