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DA: Olive oil may fight heart disease
Announcement opens door to new food labels
The Associated Press
Updated: 5:51 p.m. ET Nov. 1, 2004
WASHINGTON - The monounsaturated fat in olive oil may reduce the chances of suffering coronary heart disease, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday, opening the door to revised food labels.
As long as people don’t increase the number of calories they consume daily, the FDA found limited but not conclusive evidence suggesting reduced risk of coronary heart disease when people replace foods high in saturated fat with the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.
According to the American Heart Association, coronary heart disease accounted for 502,189 deaths — or one in five deaths — in 2001, the most current statistic available. Another 13.2 million Americans that year survived the heart attacks, chest pains and other ailments caused by coronary heart disease.
