Inscription on UNESCO's Representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Seven Countries Study played a crucial role in the inscription on theList of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO which was conducted by the American scientist, Dr. Ancel Keys.

Dr. Ancel Keys studied the effect of diet to health and, along with his co-workers, researched how the frequency of emergence of cardiovasculardiseases and strokes is affected by the composition of the diet and its fatcontent. For this reason the study was on the emergence or non-emergenceof cardiovascular diseases in relation to the lifestyle of approximately13.000 male adults of eighteen areas in seven different countries.

These countries were the mediterranean Greece (the study took place initially in Crete and afterwards in Corfu), Italy and Serbia (then the country of Jugoslavia) and Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and the USA from around the world.

After some decades of studies, the Seven Countries Study was completed,and the results were that inhabitants of Mediterranean countries, especiallyGreek groups, had the finest health and longer life expectancy than inhabitants of the other countries, while also having significantly lower percentages of cardiovascular diseases and deaths in relation to the rest of the countries which took part in the study.

The above findings were considered to be a result of the way of life and the eating habits of the mediterranean countries, thus the mediterranean diet..

Detailed description of the element of intangible cultural heritage

Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

In June of 1995, an article was published in the scientific magazine The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, v. 61, i. 6, p. 1402S–1406S with the title: Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eatingby the scientists of Harvard University, W. C. Willett, F. Sacks, AntoniaTrichopoulos, G. Drescher, A. Ferro-Luzzi, E. Helsing and DimitrisTrichopoulos..

In this article, the pyramid of the mediterranean diet is presented, which is based on diet traditions of Greece and North Italy during the 1960’s and describes a diet program, attractive for its taste, as well as beneficial forhealth.

The features of this diet model are presented briefly in theMediterranean Diet Pyramid.

In this diet program, olive oil is necessary in daily diet, being the main source of fat with great benefits to health. That occures because its consumption involves high content of unsaturated fatty acids and mainlymono-unsaturated fat, which reduce total cholesterol and LDL-C (LowDensity Lipoprotein Cholesterol) which is the “bad” cholesterol, while itdoes not affect HDL-C (High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol) which is the “beneficial” cholesterol.

The high content of antioxidant vitamin E contained in olive oil, is another reason for it to be considered as a food with unequivocal nutritional value.

Health Claims

Based on scientific results, olive oil functions as a protective weapon in order to fight many diseases, within the framework of a balanced mediterranean diet

According to the regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods, a “health claim” is any statement which declares or leads to the conclusion that there is a relationship between food and health.

According to the same regulation 1924/2006 health claims which have not been approved by the Council and are not found in the list of permitted healthclaims, are prohibited.

Thus, there are strict criteria which health claims have to fulfill since they are based on scientific statements by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Specifically in Greece, according to EFET (Hellenic Food Authority), health claims can be used only when approved, included in the list of permitted health claims of the Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 and fulfill the general and specific conditions which are assigned in the Regulation.

The approved health claims along with their terms of use are found in the Regulation (EU) no 432/2012.

According to the Regulation (EU) no 432/2012 of the European Council in relation to the list of permitted health claims on food, olive oil can present the following health claims:

Olive oil polyphenols
Olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of lipids in our blood from oxidant stress.
The health claim can be used solely for olive oil which contains 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its products, within 20 g of olive oil.
For this health claim to be applied, the consumer needs to be informed that the beneficial results can be provided by a daily intake of 20 g of olive oil.

enKardia Ultra Premium and Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil contain 8-10 mg polyphenols in 20 g of olive oil, a quantity much higher than the limit. The protection of lipids of blood from oxidization helps to avoid the creation of atheromatous plaque or atheroma, which is related to cardiovascular diseases and brain function.

Vitamin E (a-tocopherol)

Vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells by oxidant stress.
The health claim can be used solely for foods being a source of vitamin E, as referred in the health claim: “SOURCE [Name of vitamin/vitamins, and/or Name of mineral salt]”, presented in the regulation 1924/2006.

Although this is not common among olive oils, it is true for Enkardia ultra premium and premium extra virgin olive oil.

The substitution of saturated fat for unsaturated fat in the diet helps to maintain normal levels of cholesterol in the blood

The health claim can be used solely for food with high content in unsaturated fatty acids, as referred in the health claim of “HIGH CONTENT IN UNSATURATED FAT”, presented in the regulation 1924/2006.

This health claim is indicated for the presence of a certain percentage of monounsaturated fat, which all olive oils exceed.

The preservation of normal levels of cholesterol in the blood is crucial to our health.
The health claim refers to Enkardia Ultra Premium, Premium, and Traditional extra virgin olive oil.

The results of the analysis which take place in certified laboratories, show that Enkardia Ultra Premium extra virgin olive oil and Premium extra virgin olive oil fulfill the specifications, as instructed by law, for the indication of the health claims described above.

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