The consumers' demand for excellence in agricultural products has led to the introduction of certiication labels. "mong others, the European Commission enforces two types of certiication labels: protected designation of origin (PDO and protected geographical indication (PGI (EEC, No./ . Olive oil, as a typical high-value agricultural product, is included in PDO/PGI labeling. The later constitutes a great motivation for a considerable range of consumers, as it is considered to be associated with high-quality olive oil. However, a misunderstanding and/or unawareness of PDO/PGI and "organic" certiication labels is often observed. Limited investigations in PDO/PGI olive oils demonstrated lower occurrence and lower levels of agrochemical residues compared to conventional olive oils. Future investigations are required in this ield, in order to conirm that the beter cultivation and industrial processes associated with PDO/PGI certiication result in lower levels of agrochemicals in the inal products. "nalytical and "ioanalytical Chemistry will play a vital role in the traceability of PDO/ PGI olive oils and the conirmation of their geographical origin and authenticity.

Summary Seventy olive oil samples with protected geographical indication (PGI) or designation of origin (PDO) were analysed for fifty‐one target pesticides by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The highest detection rates were observed for penconazole (n = 20), α‐endosulfan (n = 18), β‐endosulfan (n = 16) and flufenoxuron (n = 12). Four of the seventy investigated samples contained pesticide residues in levels exceeding MRLs. However, the investigated samples showed decreased occurrence and levels of pesticides residues in comparison with previous studies concerning samples from Greek conventional and organic cultivations. According to Spearman matrix, powerful correlations were obtained between α‐endosulfan and β‐endosulfan, detected as pair in thirteen samples and between flufenoxuron and penconazole detected as pair in eleven samples. Among Greek olive oil samples, the Cretan ones showed the lower detection rates and the lowest average number of detected pesticides per sample (1.75) in the case of pesticides positive samples.

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The study was set out to investigate the factors affecting consumers’ purchasing attitudes and their intention to buy PDO/PGI food products. A total of 615 consumers took part in the study from the municipality of Attica, Greece. The majority of the respondents consider PDO/PGI products of better quality and higher safety than the conventional ones, and they are also able to identify them. However, respondents are unsure whether these products are superior in terms of health benefits, less expensive and tastier than the conventional ones. Furthermore, consumers, who pay attention to the origin, the health claims, the label of a product, and have a high level of consumer awareness, are more likely to buy PDOs/ PGIs. Understanding the main factors that influence consumers to purchase PDO/PGI products, is a vital step towards the promotion of special labeled agri-foodstuffs, which could contribute to the local sustainable development.