For the 11th consecutive year, the World Olive Center for Health, in collaboration with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, announces the results of the international competition Olympia Health & Nutrition Awards 2026. They reward the olive growers who produced high phenolic olive oils that meet the requirements of the European Regulation 432/2012 and therefore acquire a health claim.
This European Regulation was created by the European Food Safety Authority, when in 2012 it officially recognized the positive effect of polyphenols on oxidative stress, through the Health Claim described in European Regulation 432/2012. It is explicitly stated that "Olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress."
A basic requirement in the European Health Claim of 432/2012 is the daily intake of 20 grams of high phenolic olive oil which contains at least 5 mg of specific polyphenols (minimum concentration limit 250 mg / kg).
It is noted that polyphenols are substances that naturally occur in olive oil and are formed from early compounds contained in the olive fruit. Oleocanthal and oleacein are the main polyphenols, found in significant amounts in olive oils with a health claim, which have been attributed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective and neuroprotective properties. Olive oils that contain phenols (or polyphenols) are called high phenolic olive oils.
Olive oil polyphenols are a modern object of scientific research, as new data are constantly emerging regarding their effect on human health. Clinical trials and studies have shown that high phenolic olive oils could have a positive effect on diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, while at the same time they can help reduce thrombosis and inflammatory disease, as they have an excellent anti-inflammatory effect similar to ibuprofen.
More than 1300 samples of olive oil participated in the Olympia Health & Nutrition Awards 2026, both from Greece and other olive-producing countries, and the results were announced in early June 2026. Awards were given in three categories depending on the phenol content - gold, silver and bronze awards - to those who produced at least one olive oil sample with a health claim in the current olive growing season 2025-2026.
Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms, due to the very high content of phenols in their organic olive oils were honored for the 11th consecutive year with 5 top awards for the 5 olive oils with which they participated. The olive oils by Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms, exceeding by up to 730% the official minimum limit of 250 mg / kg set by the European Regulation to attribute a health claim, were awarded in the highest category of the gold award, as follows:
FYLLIKON First Harvest – Gold & 1.825 mg/kg polyphenols
AGOURELAIO Early Harvest – Gold & 1.616 mg/kg polyphenols
ARMONIA Monovarietal – Gold & 1.285 mg/kg polyphenols
PLUS HEALTH GREEN - Gold & 1.198 mg/kg polyphenols
PLUS HEALTH BLUE - Silver & 651 mg/kg polyphenols
It is a great honor to scientifically confirm the positive effect of our organic olive oils on human health for the eleventh (11th) consecutive year, when all five (5) of our samples are classified as very high phenolic olive oils with a health claim.
It is also noteworthy that with the organic olive oils and table olives of Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms, due to their very high content of health-protective ingredients and phenols, university studies and clinical research are carried out in renowned institutions in Greece and the USA.
The multi-year collaboration with researchers, scientific institutions and medical schools in areas related to the improvement of human health are at the core of Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms.
Scientific research proves in practice that our organic olive products belong to the innovative Bio-Functional foods, known internationally by the terms Bio Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals.
In the U.S.A., clinical research and studies are being conducted with our organic olive oils and table olives at the renowned Harvard and Yale Schools of Public Health, as well as at Auburn and Temple University departments, co-sponsored by Yale School of Medicine, the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) at Auburn University, the Department of Drug Discovery and Development at Auburn University's Harrison College of Pharmacology, and the Alzheimer's Center at Temple University.
In Greece, three (3) clinical studies and research have already been developed at the Department of Pharmacy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the Hypertension Unit of the First University Cardiology Clinic of the Hippokration General Hospital of Athens and the Biopathology Laboratory of the 401st General Military Hospital of Athens.
At the same time, in olive oil by Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms (Plus Health DMB evoo), a new substance called DMB (3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol) was recently identified and quantified using scientific methods, as well as the way it affects modern diseases of the human body.
In June 2025, an international consortium of scientists led by Professor Emeritus of the International Hellenic University (IHU) and Honorary Member of the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS Fellow - USA) Mr. Apostolos Kiritsakis, published in the international scientific Journal of Food Bioactives the impressive results of the pioneering study, under the general title “Quantification of 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol(DMB) in olive oil: a rapid and novel method”.
An important development is the new collaboration that has begun in order to investigate the role of the substance DMB (3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol) which was recently identified in olive oils by Sakellaropoulos, and mainly the way it acts against inflammation, autoimmune, cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's, in the human body.
The title of this promising research effort is “DMB, Gut Microbiota and Heart Health”, while the main focus of the research is the role of 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB) from extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in inhibiting the production of trimethylamine (TMA) and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) by the intestinal microbiota.
Finally, these awards at the international OLYMPIA Health & Nutrition Awards 2026 complete the number of 1.345 international awards for Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms, creating a new and evolving world record.
Source: amna.gr
