A brief commentary assessing recent reports concerning dietary fat intake and coronary heart disease (CHD) risks notes that although a recommendation for reducing fat intake to 30% or less of dietary energy intake is appropriate for populations of northern Europe and the US, it is inappropriate for populations in Mediterranean areas where diets provide over 30% of energy from fats and CHD incidence is much less. It is argued that the lower CHD incidence in these areas is due to traditional intakes of olive oil, representing diets that are lower in saturated fats.(wz)