Mediterraneans abandoning region's healthy diet: FAO

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

ROME (AFP) — People in Mediterranean countries are abandoning the region's widely praised healthy diet in favour of food that has too much fat, salt and sugar, the Food and Agricultural Organization warned Tuesday.

"Hailed by experts as keeping people slim, healthy and long-living, the Mediterranean diet has followers all over the world -- but is increasingly disregarded around the Mediterranean," said a statement from the UN body.

Senior FAO economist Josef Schmidhuber said the Mediterranean diet, based on fresh fruit and vegetables, was becoming less popular in several countries in its home region including Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Growing affluence had changed the eating habits in southern Europe, north Africa and the Near East to the extent...