12 Jun

Good oil on taste and longevity

Know in ancient times as “juice of the gods”, olive oil has only enhanced its reputation over the years. While it may not be the ticket to immortality, there is evidence that it can lead to a longer and healthier life.
“The traditional Mediterranean diet is high in olive oil and certainly there’s evidence to [...]

10 Jun

Fighting cancer with olive oil

By Kim Pierce,
Researchers with Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas recently partnered with their Italian counterparts in Naples to determine whether extra-virgin olive oil has anti-cancer properties.
Why did they suspect EVOO, cooking celebrity Rachael Ray’s shorthand for extra-virgin olive oil? The researchers noticed that populations that follow a Mediterranean diet have a lower incidence of [...]

02 May

The Top Diet . . . for Your Ticker

Which does the best job of protecting your heart: a Mediterranean-style diet or a low-fat plan?
Either approach is good for your health. But the Mediterranean type gives your ticker some extra protection. Here’s how.
Cholesterol Buster
The Mediterranean-type diet brought cardiovascular disease risk down 15% in a recent study, versus 9% for the low-fat plan. Why the [...]

04 Apr

Olive Oil Eases Ride For Bypass Patients

By Charlene Laino,
If you or a family member are scheduled for heart bypass surgery, stock up on the olive oil.
That’s the advice of Greek researchers who found that an olive-oil-rich diet may lower the risk of having a heart attack or stroke or dying from cardiovascular disease in the month after heart surgery.
“There’s a lot [...]

30 Mar

The new way to enjoy ancient olive

By Caroline Bellamy,
Olives lower blood cholesterol and are also full of antioxidants which protect the heart, the therapeutic benefits of olives and olive oil have been known for centuries, Mediterraneans have long prized the small fruit of the Olea Europaea for its health-boosting properties.
Now, those properties are being harnessed for use in supplements, tinctures, creams [...]

16 Mar

The humble olive

JAMES HIPKISS writes on the history, varieties and best ways to enjoy olives.
Most Malaysians are familiar with olive oil. It is now commonly available in ever increasing varieties in nearly all supermarkets and specialist shops.
However, the olive itself is not so commonly used here, and perhaps not so often seen in most Malaysian kitchens.
After all, [...]

05 Mar

Italian police crack down on olive oil fraud

By Malcolm Moore,
Police in Italy have arrested 23 people and confiscated 85 farms in an operation that has exposed the scale of the country’s fraudulent olive oil trade.
More than 400 officers took part in Operation Golden Oil after an investigation discovered as many as 91 people may have been involved in passing off low quality [...]

30 Dec

Oil of Life

Everybody knows that a Mediterranean diet is good for your health, and many equate this benefit with the heavy use of olive oil. But what hard scientific evidence supports this widespread belief? (Diet books don’t count.)
In the current issue of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, University of Athens professor Antonia Trichopoulou, a medical doctor and [...]

16 Dec

Forgotten for more than a century, French olive oil back on top

Maussane les Alpilles, France — Thirty-five years ago olive-grower Raymond Gonfond pondered giving up on his olive trees — because olive oil was not selling. Now the whole world is enamoured of this green gold, which underpins the famed ‘Mediterranean diet’ … and olive-growers are prospering.
“When I was starting out, olive oil had a terrible [...]

09 Dec

Indians take to olive oil for healthier tomorrow

With lifestyle diseases like obesity and heart trouble becoming endemic in the country, Indians are increasingly taking to olive oil as the preferred cooking medium, prompting global manufacturers to eye this growing market.
According to the International Olive Council (IOC), a non-profit organisation, Indians today consume some 2,000 tonnes of olive oil per annum, but the [...]

08 Dec

Turkish Olive oil sector struck by internal fighting

Once ranking forth after Spain, Italy and Greece, Turkish olive oil production suffered a setback. Now it ranks sixth after Syria and Tunisia. As olive oil consumption is on the rise world wide globally, efforts are underway to increase Turkey’s share in global production. But the necessary transition to modern harvesting is slow and the [...]

24 Oct

IOC launches campaign in India

The International Olive Council (IOC) has launched a promotion campaign in India with an interactive media workshop that was held on September 20, 2007 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi.
The workshop aimed to provide in-depth information on olive oil and table olives as well as provide about their health and nutritional aspects. Franco Oliva, deputy [...]

08 Oct

Drought to seal fate of Turkey’s black gold

Drought adversely affected agriculture everywhere around the Mediterranean this year and vegetable production has suffered one of its worst seasons. Livelihood of millions in the Marmara and Aegean regions of Anatolia, olive production has dropped dramatically due to scourging heat.
The production of the olive, commonly described as “black gold” in many provinces across Anatolia’s Marmara [...]

22 Sep

All you need to know about Olive Oil

Do you want to eat and live healthy?
Many says olive oil, the cooking oil with the highest level of monounsaturated fatty acids, is the right product to ensure your healthy life.
Here is all you need to know about olive oil.

Olive oil is used abundantly in cooking, baking and marinating throughout the Mediterranean region.
The origin of [...]

22 Sep

Can Indian food be cooked in olive oil?

By Rasheeda Bhagat,
Can Indian food be cooked in olive oil? When this question was posed to celebrated Indian chef Sanjeev Kapur at a promotion campaign for olive oil and table olives organised by the International Olive Council in Delhi on Thursday, his reply was simple. “Of course it can, that’s a no brainer”.
Indian cuisine had [...]

13 Sep

There’s oil, then there’s “oil.”

By Jody Godfrey,
Olive oil (not Popeye’s girl) is the “oil” and it is worth its weight in gold! The general health benefits of this oil are many as it is a monounsaturated fat.
However, the fatty acid part of the story is just that … only a part. Cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has an [...]

06 Sep

Olive Oil, Your Health, Your Kitchen

By Núria Roig,
Extra virgin olive oil has become such a symbol of healthy eating that it is hard to believe that it was once accused of increasing the harmful cholesterol. It was a fat, so it had to be bad for us. Fortunately, we left those times behind and now olive oil and most fats [...]

04 Sep

Turkish Olive growers call for increased olive oil consumption

While the rest of the Mediterannean consumes most of the olive oil it produces, olive oil consumption in Turkey is the lowest in the region. Turks consume one kilogram of the oil a year while their neighbors comsume an average of 15. Producers in Ayvalık say it’s time the government inspires Turks to buy and [...]

31 Aug

Dipping bread into olive oil with red pepper flakes and thyme is a great tradition in Turkish culinary culture

It is said that there are two trees in Paradise: The fig and olive. The olive is the “Tree of Life.” The olive is no doubt an “immortal tree” that is eternalized in symbols, myths, legends, poems, novels and paintings. It is a symbol of holiness, plenty, justice, health, pride, victory, prosperity, wisdom, intelligence, purity [...]

30 Aug

Harvest season comes alive with flavors from Olive Oil from Spain

Fall marks the annual olive harvest in Spain, the world’s leading producer of olive oil. Though a secret to many, Olive Oil from Spain has long been the favorite choice of leading chefs and culinary experts around the world.
Karen MacNeil, one of the nation’s most sophisticated palates and noted food and wine pairing expert, believes [...]

30 Aug

Belazu Gives Olive Oil a Hard Time

A UK first has been achieved by Mediterranean specialist Belazu with the introduction of two solid Extra Virgin Olive Oil products into the retail market.
‘Belazu Premier Choix Spreadable Oil’ is made from the brand’s liquid Premier Choix Extra Virgin Olive Oil and offers all the practical and culinary versatility of butter, but with all the [...]

23 Aug

Olive Oil A Great Solution For Hair And Skin Care

Olive oil has been widely used in your salads as well as many other things. It is one of healthiest components to make your food taste better. This oil comes directly from the Mediterranean Region and it has become so famous that it has been used in all the continents. It is a favorite [...]

20 Aug

Myriad benefits of Olive oil

Diabetes:
An olive-oil-rich diet is not only a good alternative in the treatment of diabetes, but also helps in preventing or delaying the onset of the disease.

Obesity and abdominal fat:
Olive oil is high in calories like any other fats and oils, but the research states that, there is less obesity amongst the Mediterranean peoples, who consume [...]

11 Aug

Mediterranean Diet: Why You Should Make Extra Virgin Olive Oil Part of Your Diet

By Emilia Klapp,
The abundant use of olives and extra virgin olive oil truly defines the traditional Mediterranean Diet. In fact it is the principal fat source and the culinary foundation for Mediterranean cuisine.
Why? For centuries, olive oil has been a major player in the low incidence of heart disease among Mediterranean populations. Extensive research has [...]

06 Aug

Italy: The trade in adulterated olive oil

By Tom Mueller,
On August 10, 1991, a rusty tanker called the Mazal II docked at the industrial port of Ordu, in Turkey, and pumped twenty-two hundred tons of hazelnut oil into its hold. The ship then embarked on a meandering voyage through the Mediterranean and the North Sea. By September 21st, when the Mazal II [...]