Healthcare

FDA will allow labels saying olive oil improves heart health, with a catch

By Kimberly Leonard
Published November 19, 2018 7:40pm ET
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FDA will allow labels saying olive oil improves heart health, with a catch
This photo taken Feb. 12, 2014 shows California Olive Oil Council Executive Director Patricia Darragh posing with a collection of California olive oil at the All Things Olive shop in Washington. It's a pressing matter for the tiny U.S olive oil industry. Shoppers are more often pouring European oil _ it's cheaper and viewed as more authentic than the American competition. And that's pitting U.S. producers against importers of the European oil. Some liken the battle to the California wine industry's struggles to gain acceptance decades ago. The tiny California olive industry says European olive oil filling U.S. shelves often is mislabeled and lower grade. They're pushing the federal government to give more scrutiny to imported varieties. One congressman-farmer even goes as far as suggesting labels on imported oil say "extra rancid" rather than extra virgin. Stricter standards might help American producers grab more market share from the dominant Europeans. | (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Food and Drug Administration will allow certain olive, sunflower, and canola oils to carry labels saying that their products could help to avoid heart disease, but only if they replace other types of fat in a person’s diet.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb cautioned in a blog post Monday that the evidence about the oils wasn’t yet conclusive, but called it “promising.” The government is allowing such health labels in the hopes that people will buy and eat more nutritious foods, driving down rates of chronic illnesses such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

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FDA Food and Beverage Health Scott Gottlieb