The fifth annual International Yale Symposium on Olive Oil and Health is taking place from December 10-13 at Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal. Researchers leading the charge in studying the potential health benefits of olive oil will be discussing a variety of topics including olive oil quality, sustainability, and current policies surrounding olive oil labeling and use.
Co-hosted by the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), Association BLC3, and the University of Minho, the conference aims to bring scientific experts, policymakers, industry specialists, and producers from around the world together through research presentations, roundtable discussions, and tastings.
“Every year we have a theme, this year our focus is shared among several main paths,” said Tassos Kyriakides, assistant professor of biostatistics at YSPH and one of the conference’s primary organizers. “One of them is testing and tracking technologies for olive oil purity and quality, and the other is agricultural sustainability and bioeconomy…We will also discuss some policy issues that have come up lately, one of them being the Nutri-Score debate and front-of-package labeling.”
Kyriakides and Vasilis Vasiliou, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at YSPH and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, have been the lead organizers of all five of the olive oil symposia. Others on the this year’s organizing committee include Joao Nunes, president, and CEO of Association BLC3, and Jose Teixeira, professor of industrial biotechnology and bioengineering at the University of Minho.
One of the symposium’s keynote speakers this year is Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou, MD, adjunct professor of epidemiology at YSPH. Known as the “mother of the Mediterranean diet,” Trichopoulou has worked for five decades in the field of Mediterranean nutrition and is a leading authority when it comes to olive oil and the traditional Mediterranean diet.
Another important topic on the symposium agenda is the Nutri-Score front-of-package labeling (FOPL) system that is being promoted in Europe. Nutri-Score is a color-coded food classification system involving the first five letters of the alphabet with a “Green A” representing foods of high nutritional value and a “Red E” representing foods with low nutritional value. The Nutri-Score algorithm determines a food item’s score based on its fat, sugar, salt, and calorie content per 100 gram serving. The controversial scoring system has been criticized by some members of the science community for failing to properly account for the nutritional value of plant-based oils like olive oil, fish, and seafood.
“One of the presentations is on a market research project in Germany related to the Nutri-Score system,” Kyriakides said. “As a concept, FOPL is a good one and consumer friendly as it could provide easily interpretable information about a food product. But the way it was designed, we believe, is the wrong one. It doesn’t take into account different types of calories nor the human health implications of consuming a product, by itself or in the context of nutrition. How can you use the same label on a soda drink and olive oil, let alone the health benefits derived from each? It’s like comparing apples and oranges.”
Kyriakides was recently retained by the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) to create and develop the methodology for an olive oil testing initiative. Using blind testing methods, the association plans to randomly test 200 olive oil samples that are representative of the olive oil that is available across the U.S. to assess quality. According to the NAOOA, this is their “most comprehensive, rigorous olive oil testing study to date.” Kyriakides believes such testing should be implemented as a regular method of quality assurance and should be performed, if not every six months, at least once a year.
Olive oil is continuously the subject of scientific research, specifically for its health benefits. According to the European Food Safety Association (EFSA), the intake of olive oil, particularly virgin olive oil, has been demonstrated to produce cardiovascular benefits due to its fatty acid composition and the antioxidant action of its naturally occurring polyphenols that fight inflammation. It has been shown to reduce the risks associated with cardiovascular disease and other conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
“Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we utilize the accumulated scientific evidence and keep generating more evidence about the human and planetary health implications of a food like olive oil,” Kyriakides said. “Our vision is that through rigorous and impactful research, and effective education and information dissemination, we, in partnership with global partners, can positively impact the health of people and the earth. All made possible by the eternal olive tree!”