Dietary habits are part of our daily life. They depend on our environment and they reflect our tradition, our culture and our history. Adhering to a balanced diet benefits our health now as well as in the future.
In recent years, food products of high added value, such as olive oil and honey, produced in the Mediterranean Region and especially in Greece, constitute an integral part of our daily diet, as well as the main exports of Greece. Thus, besides their recognized benefits on human health, such products constitute a major role in terms of national financial resources.
Olive oil and honey are among the most commonly adulterated products in the international and Greek market. In an official report by the European Union, olive oil came on the top of the rank of the most adulterated foods, while honey ranked sixth.
Access to safe products of high quality is among the fundamental goals of national and international public health bodies. The quality of olive oil and honey is assessed based on a number of criteria. Factors such as taste, color, packaging etc determine - sometimes mistakenly – customers’ choices. At the same time, ensuring the quality and authenticity of such products constitutes a great challenge.
Raising awareness of these issues is of high importance. At the same time, finding valid and accurate identification methods of quality and authenticity control, as well as identifying their botanical and geographical origin is necessary.
