U.S. Gives Olive Oil Healthful Label

WASHINGTON —  Food containing olive oil can carry labels saying it may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, the government said Monday, citing limited evidence from a dozen scientific studies about the benefits of monounsaturated fats.

As long as people don’t increase the number of calories they consume daily, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease when people replace foods high in saturated fat with the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.

That means a change as simple as cooking food in two tablespoons of olive oil instead of butter may be better for your heart.

“Since CHD is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the United States, it is a public health priority to make sure that consumers have accurate and useful information on reducing their risk,” Lester M. Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, said in a prepared statement.

“It’s good news for consumers,” said Bob Bauer, president of the North American Olive Oil Assn. “Olive oil is a healthy product to help them fight heart disease.”

Manufacturers waited for the FDA’s precise wording before revising labels. “I expect, over time, most every container of olive oil will have this,” he said.

Recent research has underscored the heart benefits from so-called Mediterranean diets high in unsaturated fats from vegetable oil, nuts and such fish as salmon and tuna. Mortality rates dropped by more than 50% among elderly Europeans who stuck to such diets, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.