MED DIET BIDS FOR HERITAGE SPOT

Senate kicks off four- country UNESCO drive
(ANSA) - Rome, June 26 - Italy is spearheading an international campaign to win world heritage recognition for the famous Mediterranean diet.

Kicking off the drive on Thursday, the Italian Senate unanimously backed a motion committing the government to ''pursue with great determination'' the bid in which Italy is joined by Spain, Greece and Morocco in upholding ''a common cultural and culinary identity''.

The four countries are set to ask the United Nation's educational and scientific organization UNESCO to add the diet to its World Heritage List.

''The Mediterranean diet is a heritage that should be protected and shared,'' said the presenter of the motion, ex-farm minister Paolo De Castro.

''Science has long recognized the unusual health properties of the diet, which has strengthened and accompanied the common cultural identity of Mediterranean countries''.

''The diet is an integral part of the historical and cultural identity of the Mediterranean and an opportunity for growth for the countries in the area,'' he said.

The government responded to the motion by pledging to take ''all the necessary measures to safeguard and boost the Mediterranean diet''.

During the debate on the motion, a Senator representing Italians abroad argued that attaining UNESCO status for the Med diet would help ''fend off the watered-down clones assailing its integrity worldwide in this age of killer fast food'' while a Senator from Campania said the laurel would help ''resurrect'' the image of the region where many of the best examples of the diet's prime ingredients originate.

The UNESCO list is famous for its historic and cultural sites but in recent years the UN body has opened its register to include ''intangible heritage'', such as endangered languages or vanishing traditions.

The Mediterranean diet is aiming for inclusion in this new category, which is so far home to music, dance and oral traditions from around the world.

The four Mediterranean countries involved in the scheme will shortly set up work groups to identify the cultural, historic, manufacturing, social and gastronomic reasons for the diet's inclusion on the list.

The final dossier for the joint candidacy will be unveiled in Rome at a special conference next month.

The proposal will be handed over to UNESCO by August 14 and the body then has until winter of 2009 to reach its decision.

The UNESCO bid has wide backing in Italy.

The head of the Italian Confederation of Farmers (CIA) Giuseppe Politi said it was an ''excellent idea''.

''The Mediterranean diet is a valuable asset that should be safeguarded and shared,'' he said.

''This campaign not only recognizes the characteristics of a healthy diet but will also help promote the history and culture of all Mediterranean countries''.

Michele Carruba, a top nutritionist and director of Milan University's Obesity Studies Centre, said the initiative was ''fitting and extremely important''.

''It seems right that a recipe for longevity should be considered the heritage of all humanity,'' he said. ''It has been scientifically proven that those who follow the diet live longer and develop fewer diseases''.

The benefits of the Mediterranean diet were first hailed over 60 years ago, when a US scientist stationed in Salerno started examining the correlation between health and food.

But it was not until the 1990s that the diet achieved widespread recognition, despite several important corroborating studies in between.

Today, the low-fat, high-fibre Mediterranean diet is considered one of the best recipes against health problems such as arthritis, obesity, diabetes, asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Cereals, olive oil, certain fish, such as anchovy and tuna, and a high fruit and vegetable intake, including tomatoes, broccoli and blackberries, are thought to be among its important features.