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Olive oil contains healthy monounsaturated fats.
But in coffee?
Photo: Senia Effe/EyeEm/Getty Images
The US coffee chain Starbucks presented a new collection of drinks last week, in which coffee is combined with olive oil.
The drinks were first introduced in Milan under the name "Oleato" and are soon to be available in California, Japan and Great Britain.
According to company information, the olive oil should give the new coffee creations a velvety-soft, luscious aroma and ensure an extraordinary texture.
Starbucks boss Howard Schultz was personally inspired to create the unusual drinks during a trip to Sicily.
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It is customary there to consume a spoonful of pure olive oil every day.
When Schultz copied this habit with his morning coffee, according to the legend, according to the Starbucks website, he had the idea of combining the two.
The best of both worlds, so to speak.
The idea of the group should also have another background.
Olive oil is associated with a variety of health benefits.
In fact, a little later, the "New York Times" saw the company's advance as an opportunity to question the health benefits of the oil.
So the company has at least pulled off a PR coup for the potential trend drink.
Beware of health promises
In fact, studies show that people who regularly consume olive oil are less likely to develop cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure and other ailments.
This is especially true if fewer animal fats such as butter are consumed.
Components such as unsaturated fatty acids or polyphenols are primarily responsible for the effects of olive oil.
However, nutritional studies usually have one major disadvantage: they can hardly prove causal relationships.
Just because people who consume olive oil more often get sick less often does not mean that the oil alone has to be responsible.
"It's difficult to figure out what role olive oil plays in these health outcomes," Marta Guasch-Ferré, a researcher at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told the New York Times.
Olive oil enthusiasts in particular could generally maintain a healthier lifestyle that protects them from the diseases.
So while it's clear that olive oil tends to be healthier than some other fats, it's best to be careful with over-the-top claims.
And there's another potential problem: while olive oil is healthy, it remains a high-calorie food.
Anyone who consumes pure oil in addition to their normal fat intake or dumps it in their coffee "adds unnecessary calories to their diet," Selvi Rajagopal, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the New York Times.
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That would be anything but optimal, especially for overweight people.
Whether the Italians are open to the unusual use of their olive oil, which is after all considered a national treasure, remains doubtful.
Mixing two cultural assets that are not traditionally enjoyed together could also be seen as an affront.
Some Italians, at least, are obviously not thrilled that the company is getting involved in the country's coffee culture.
In 2018, angry protesters set fire to several Starbucks-sponsored palm trees in Milan's Piazza del Duomo.
The group had previously announced its plans to open a branch in the city.
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