I don't know what people you are referring to, but of course people owning Olive oil plantations consume lots of it if they like it.And workers in those plantations.
I have lots of experience in Spain, Italy and Greece and on those countries you have a lot of olive oil, and near plantations(like in Jaen or Sevilla) EVERYBODY consumes it.
It is common there to take raw oil with bread for breakfast. Some people just don't like it in raw form, but most people like the food cooked with it, that is typical in Spain or Italy.
They can afford it because olive oil is expensive, but not that expensive there, and friends and family give each other oil gifts in bulk.
Those prices are not what you find in a shop in California for a small bottle. They give each other 10, 20 Litters containers.
Sunflower seed oil is used for frying things in big quantities,not just because price but because it has neutral flavor,but olive oil is used a lot for cooking in general.
You make fish in the oven, you add olive oil. You make meat, you use olive oil.
I live in central Europe most of the year and of course I cook with lots of olive oil(and sunflower oil too).
To give you an idea, usually Greeks don't buy olive oil in bottles. They buy it in 5lt to 17lt containers
I believe the situation is similar in Italy too. At least southern Italy
If you fake phones or handbags or sunglasses nobody cares. It is forbidden but authorities turn a blind eye. If you fake tea in China, you get executed. Period.
The most important thing is that people know and a big industry behind. It is easy to trick Americans, but I know people that could clearly differentiate between different varieties like arbequina or picual and even the year and the place it comes from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil#Adulteration
> There have been allegations, particularly in Italy and Spain, that regulation can be sometimes lax and corrupt.[90] Major shippers are claimed to routinely adulterate olive oil so that only about 40% of olive oil sold as "extra virgin" in Italy actually meets the specification.[91] In some cases, colza oil (extracted from rapeseed) with added color and flavor has been labeled and sold as olive oil.[92] 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.[93] 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.[92] Under EU rules, olive oil may be sold as Italian even if it only contains a small amount of Italian oil.[93]
Also see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil_regulation_and_adult...
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If it does get adulterated illegally, I don't know. But haven't heard of any scandal like that.
Mediterranean diet includes olive oil, but it does not exclude sunflower seed oil. Maybe CNN is not such a good source of information of habits of people across the globe. Even people that I know owning olive plantations and processing installations don't consume a lot of it, they can't afford to.