No-calorie Powder May Substitute For Foods Fat :: essays research papers

No-Calorie Powder May Substitute for Foods Fat     George E. Inglett of the U.S. Department of Agricultures BiopolymerResearch Unit in Peoria III invented a no-calorie fat substitute called Z-Trim.It is a mix of crushed fibers made from the hulls of grains. It can replace thefat and some of the carbohydrates in foods such as chocolates, brownies, cheese,and ground beef. He spent three years trying to perfect Z-Trim to be smoothbe draw he made it out of tough hulls of corn, oats, and rice. He commencement ceremony crushedthe hulls with a solution of hydrogen peroxide. He washed the peroxide off incentrifuge. After this step it was still too large, so he put the pieces backthrough the first step of the hydrogen peroxide and the centrifuge. That madeit smooth. Now, it is a fine, white cellulose powder that can be made into agel by adding water.     Inglett also developed Oatrim. This is made up of a digestible fiberfrom oat flour that provides f our calories per gram.     Z-Trim compared to another fat substitute, olestra, is different.Olestra can cause gastrointestinal distress and take vitamins and carotenoidsout of the body. The new substitute does not have those affects. Inglett saysthat you should eat more of the kind of fibers that make up Z-Trim to reducethe chances of acquiring intestinal disorders.     But there are some people who argue with Ingletts theory on his newsubstitute. "I wouldnt expect Z-Trim to have the same kinds of problems asolestra," says Margo Wootan, a senior scientist at the Center for Science in thePublic Interest in Washington, D.C. "Fiber is already found in our diet, whileolestra is a synthetic chemical. There is also concern for the "microbialstability" of foods containing Z-Trim. "Whenever you remove the lipid materialand replace it with water," says Thomas H.