USDA Ingredient Removes Fat from FoodUSDA Ingredient Removes Fat from Food

USDA Ingredient Removes Fat from Food

PEORIA, Ill.--A natural ingredient named Fantesk may be the newmillennium's version of Olestra for the low-fat and non-fat food sectors. In theFebruary issue of Agricultural Research, it was reported that thisingredient helps a product retain its fatty flavor, but without the fat grams.Fantesk, a product trademarked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),was first discovered in the mid-1990s when it was studied as a seed coating toregulate a seed's water uptake in cold, wet soils. Since then, research hasmoved into food applications. At the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS)National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research center here, scientistshave found a way to make oil and water mix, a key component for this ingredient.Fantesk combines starch and water with oily constituents such as butterfat orsoy oil to create tiny oil droplets that encapsulate certain fat-solublecompounds that give foods their "fatty" flavor. At the moment, thislow- to non-fat substitute is being tested in cheese, which is high in saturatedfat. The researchers said they believe they can bring down a cheese's fatcontent from 3.5 percent to 1.1 percent using Fantesk.This research is part of the ARS's national program, "New Uses, Quality& Marketability of Plant & Animal Products." More information isavailable at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.