Fat-Reduction Renaissance

When the popular press picks up on even a sliver of disagreement pitting one nutritional theory against another, it often turns years of accepted dietary advice on its head. Overnight, what once was good for you becomes bad. No wonder so many weight-watchers toss in the towel.

The situation proves equally confounding to product developers pursuing the latest diet and wellness trend to capture the consumers fancy. Yet, amid all the options for improving prepared foods healthfulnessfrom boosting fiber to cutting sugar to designing for satietya surprising number of us travel back in time for a strategy thats weathered the diet wars: fat reduction.

Why trim the fat?

Our understanding of how we gain and lose weight has advanced remarkably, but the underlying equation remains largely a matter of calories in vs. calories out. And fat, with 9 kcal per gram, compared to proteins and carbohydrates 4, is the single most concentrated source of energy in your diet, says Lauren Swann, M.S., R.D., president, Concept Nutrition, Inc., Bensalem, PA. Its just so easy to add it.

Judging from current rates of overweight and obesity, thats likely what were doing. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found the incidence of obesity among American adults more than doubled from 14.5% in 1971 to 1974, to 32.2% in 2003 to 2004. Globally, the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) of the International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) pegs the worlds number of overweight at 1.148 billion, and obese at 316 million.

When organizations from the American Heart Association to the American Dietetic Association to the USDA advocate limiting fat to 20% to 35% of daily calories, they make a moderate, effective suggestion for losing weight, and one that may improve overall health. Studies have shown the relationship between low-fat diets and the reduction of cholesterol and coronary disease, says Allen Freed, president and CEO, Gum Technology Corporation, Tucson, AZ. The Womens Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) found that, among 2,437 women previously treated for early-stage breast cancer, 9.8% of those placed on a 15%-fat diet experienced relapse, compared to 12.4% of those on a 30%-fat control. Thats a 24% lower risk for the intervention group, which also enjoyed an average 6-lb. weight loss relative to the control. Whether the weight loss or the low-fat diet accounted for the reduced relapse rate isnt entirely clear, but either way, the women came out ahead.

To be fair, not all studies shine such positive light on fat reduction. The Womens Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial garnered media attention for concluding that post-menopausal women who adopt a low-fat diet may not significantly reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer or colorectal cancer. But the evidence mainly leans in favor of continued fat reduction as part of a larger lifestyle approach to health and wellness.

Biding its time

In this industry, what comes around goes around, and even as low-carb and high-protein diets stole the spotlight the past few years, fat reduction as a weight-loss and product-development concept never really went away.

When you look at label claims, says Jim Degen, CMC, president of J.M. Degen & Company, Inc., Templeton, CA, a market consulting firm that works with the dried plum industry, low-fat is still the second-most frequently used after natural, according to Mintel. And thats been going on for five or 10 years. In fact, of all lesser evil product launches, more now bear low- and nonfat claims than any other distinction. The momentum shows no sign of slowing: While 7.4% of new products in 2001 promoted reduced fat, that proportion rose to 10.4% in 2005, Datamonitor says. Meanwhile, the NPD Group notes that low-carb products account for only 4.1% of new launches, down from 14.1% just two years ago.

What went wrong

Making low-fats staying power even more remarkable is that it endured despite disappointing first-generation products. There was such a rush to market with the initial low-fat products that little time was allowed for sensory evaluation and real experimentation with the ingredients to create the best-flavored products, says Jenny Norton, food scientist, TIC Gums, Inc., Belcamp, MD. These low-fat products of the past were nowhere near the flavor, texture or overall eating satisfaction of their full-fat counterparts.

That gulf between the originals and their slimmed-down siblings testifies to how valuable an ingredient fat is, from balancing and delivering flavor to lending surface gloss to putting the puff in puff pastry and the creamy in ice cream.

Fat is an incredible texturant, says Freed. It has a mouthfeel that is difficult to mimic. It also keeps products feeling moist and fresh some low-fat products have had problems preventing staleness when fat was removed. Fat also eases processing, builds structure in baked goods, serves as a precursor to flavor compounds, and binds ingredients in everything from sausages to cookie dough.

Dairy, perhaps the most popular low-fat area, throws up many challenges to low-fat formulation. One that we deal with on a daily basis is in low-fat ice cream, says Ariella Gastel, senior business development manager, Danisco USA, Inc., Elmsford, NY. Because theres more water in there than fat, theres a tendency for ice crystal formation, which is a major negative when youre expecting something creamy and silky. And that goes with many formulations that are low fat: What are you substituting the fat with?

Youre either substituting it with more water or a number of other things that never quite measure up to fat. (For a more in-depth discussion of fats functions and its replacement, see Where is Fat Reduction Going? in the March 1996 issue of Food Product Design.) But, under pressure to get low-fat products to market, formulators had no choice but to shoot first and ask questions later. With fat removal priority number one, its total functional replacement often assumed the status of afterthought. Formulators knew, for example, that fatwhether butter, lard, olive oil or otherwisecontributed characterizing flavors. Those were easy enough to replicate using flavor ingredients. What got lost in translation, however, was that fat is indispensable in carrying, releasing, attenuating, accentuating and in so many other ways influencing a foods overall profile. It distributes lipophilic compounds when it coats the palate. Without this, a product tastes thin by comparison. Without fats flavor-moderating effect, some notes come on with a stronger attack, throwing the profile out of balance. Making matters worse, many traditional fat replacersgums, starches, proteins mask or bind flavors, and sometimes even introduce unwanted notes of their own.

Once you took the fat out, there was no flavor carry-through, Degan says. In fact, he attributes the success of one first-generation fat replacer, dried plum purée, in part to its high malic-acid concentration, which, like fat, coats the mouth so it tends to potentiate flavor. It peaks more slowly, as well, which tends to stretch out the time required to deliver the flavor, he continues. Some of the flavor deficit was filled not very successfully  by sugar. Then everybody started eating more because they didnt get the satisfaction they were looking for in the full-fat version.

Couple this, Swann adds, with what escaped into the media was that if you cut back on your fat, it didnt matter what your calories were, and low-fat products quickly became a moral hazard. People got the attitude that they could just cut out the fat and then eat a whole bag of fat-free pretzels in one sitting, she says. And no, thats not going to help.

Second times the charm

Underwhelming product quality and conspicuous weight gain contributed to a backlash that soured consumers on the idea for some time. The emphasis, Norton says, was on the health benefits, and some in industry believed that consumers would sacrifice flavor and palatability for a healthier diet. Those truly dedicated to the low-fat lifestyle accepted this and continued purchasing low-fat products, but those who werent as dedicated may have bought a product once and decided not to purchase it again.

So began low-fats wilderness years, a period of isolation that afforded product developers room to research and develop more-informed theories of fat reduction. As Norton says: Even as the low-fat craze died out, there continued to be some interest in reduced-fat foods, so companies took the time to develop better-tasting, high-quality options that consumers enjoyed.

The changes were less revolutionary than evolutionary, as the ingredients turned to were essentially the same as before. For example, Lecithin is not a new addition to the bakery industry, but it continues to be highly useful, says Wendy Erickson, bakery, snacks and cereal technical manager, Cargill, Minneapolis. Lecithins emulsification properties help extend fat in crackers, cookies, bread, donuts, etc. However, the difference now is that were working with these tools more wisely.

More in-depth knowledge of food ingredients, like stabilizers, flavors, masking agents, and fat mimetics, allows us to take the fat out of the products without sacrificing consumer acceptability, Norton says. The real advances, she adds, have been made by combining ingredients to create the desired outcome. Most foods are complicated systems, and the solution for removing fat in each food is different. Many times, a combination of ingredients, like stabilizers, emulsifiers and flavors, can give the desired effect.

Weve by no means perfected the science, and drawbacks to even the finest-tuned fat-replacement system persist. One of the primary differences between the replacements and the fat is that there is no universal replacement, Freed says. In reality, the solution involves a lot more tinkering. Because of the unique qualities of fat, replacement often requires a two- or three-pronged approach, he continues. One ingredient or ingredient combination may be used to get a flaky crust, and another might be used to add body structure.

Adds Gastel: After all these years, weve just come to understand the intricacies of fat replacement better. Weve gotten wiser in using mixtures of technologies. One such mixture is her companys Cremodan LF IcePro, a blend of emulsifiers and hydrocolloids that, the company claims, controls ice-crystal growth sufficiently to allow for sub-1%-fat ice cream texturally comparable to premium.

Another new dairy-friendly blend of technologies takes advantage of sodium alginates reaction with dairy calcium to trap air in foams. In addition to the sodium alginate, this dairy fat replacer contains microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), konjac and xanthan gum. The MCC produces a fatty-textured gel upon application of shear, while konjac and xanthan together lend elasticity. Overall, the cold-setting mixture helps boost suspension and aeration. We have found that konjac, due to its own unique properties, can, in combination with other ingredients, contribute to the replacement of fatty mouthfeel and product structure, says Aida Prenzno, laboratory director, Gum

Technology. These synergies also retain moisture and prevent staleness and syneresis better than their predecessors. Because the blends constituents reinforce one another, the company recommends use levels in the economically low ranges of 0.15% to 0.45% in lowfat dairy applications, 0.30% to 0.50% in cream sauces, and 0.20% to 1.0% in ice creams.

Sarah Landon, R&D chef, Gum Technology, says: You can maintain the integrity of the structure and the eating quality while removing about 30% to half of the fat from cookies, muffins, even pie crustsfoods that are traditionally very high in fat. They still use some butter in the applications, which you need to create that flaky, crumbly texture you want. Youre never going to get the originalat least not this year. Maybe in 10 years well be there. But by taking out some of the butter and replacing it with a different type of moisture from the gums, were getting closer to it.

Go low, not no

Its no coincidence that so many applications targeted for fat reduction are in the dairy category. I hate to burst your bubble, Landon says, but a croissant is going to be really, really hard to make low-fat. But yogurt, ice creams, shakes and smoothies, cream-based sauces and dips are almost ideal for successful fat reduction via the current crop of substitution technologies. Theres a wealth of development in these areas, and new reduced- and nonfat dairy foods are being introduced every day, Norton says.

Part of this has to do with the ready availability of a low- or nonfat starting ingredient: milk. Also, the main hurdle to reducing fat in dairy is restoring the smooth, creamy texture weve come to expecta restoration thats increasingly within the means of stabilizers and emulsifiers. The exception is reduced-fat natural cheese, whose melting and shredding shortfalls still vex food technologists.

Consumers have started evaluating low-fat foods in general with a transformed palate. Notes Freed: We have become familiar with the negative aspects of too much fat in the diettrans fats are all over the newsand we have consciously reduced fats in our eating habits. So we have become more accustomed to low-fat without really being on a low-fat diet. This combination of people not expecting very high-fat products and the introduction of better technologies and ingredients leads toward more acceptance of low-fat items.

Trying to replace 100% of the fat in a high-fat product can sometimes lead to an acceptable imitation, Freed continues, but it will rarely lead to a product that is considered an exact match for the control standard.

Thats not to suggest that fat-free is a total bust. The consumer has learned that fat-free isnt necessarily that good for you, Landon says. Your body needs some fat to function; your brain needs it to function. So, if consumers can cut calories and cut fat by choosing a reduced-fat rather than a fat-free option, theyre still feeling good, theyre still getting the satisfaction of the mouthfeel, the flavor and the texture that they want, but without all of the fat and calories. She points back to the baked goods, up to half of whose fat shes replaced with the companys dairy fat replacer, and to no ill effect. Compared to completely fatfree counterparts, its a huge difference, she says. With a fat-free scone, youre going to have something thats incredibly chewy and really dense. Itll visually resemble a scone, but texturally it wont.

Holistic low-fat

Fat is not just fat, says Gastel. We have to consider what type of fat it is. People are recognizing the value of omega-3s, and that theres a question mark surrounding saturated fat and how much you really need to watch it. More often than not, she notes, People are combining various types of dietsreducing carbs, exercising more, looking at portion control, taking all different kinds of approachesas well as reducing fat and calories. And as the market attempts to satisfy all these desires, its no longer enough to offer reduced fat and nothing but. To stand out in this environment, youve got to deliver more.

Reduced-fat formulations are only one of several options for weight-loss management, says Joe ONeill, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Orafti Active Food Ingredients, Malvern, PA. Certainly, low-fat formulations are important. However, one has to consider total calorie control, moderate exercise, ingredient selection and portion control. Theres a lot more we can do than just take the fat out of the food, he says.

ONeill says the company, which supplies inulin and oligofructose, considers fat replacement a small part of its business. We have ingredients that may partially replace fat in many processed foods and beverages, he says. Not only will they give some of the mouthfeel and enhanced creaminess in dairy applications, but will reduce sugar content, too. Inulin and oligofructose can also mask off-flavors associated with high-intensity sweeteners, so theyll bring the whole profile closer to sugar. And with only 2 kcal per gram, they contribute fewer calories in the first place. Formulators now have an opportunity of using these ingredients in low-calorie and fat-reduced formulations, he says. These all-natural ingredients can be used for their technological advantages, as well as for their scientific and clinically proven benefits. These prebiotic ingredients are zero-glycemic and do not produce an insulin or glucagon release, a factor in weight loss and satiety control.

People want to lose weight and they want foods that taste good, ONeill says. They also want them to be healthy and natural. Now that were into the era of preventive medicine and a holistic approach to wellness, you really can say that you are what you eat.

Kimberly J. Decker, a California-based technical writer, has a B.S. in Consumer Food Science with a minor in English from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the San Francisco bay area, where she enjoys eating and writing about food. You can reach her at [email protected].