By Allison Powe

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Americans are realizing that better diets lead to better lives, but after making it clear they aren't willing to sacrifice great tastes they've enjoyed for years, the food industry has been compelled to respond.

As many Americans try to form better eating habits, the food industry is using modern technology to ensure healthy foods also taste good.

Dr. Zahur Haque, professor of food technology at Mississippi State University, said Americans started moving away from high fat diets about ten years ago.

"When people became concerned with the amount of fats they were eating, the food industry had to come up with new ways to give consumers what they wanted," Haque said. Three different methods have been used to replace fats in foods.

Carbohydrate-based fat replacers, such as cellulose, gums, dextrins and modified food starch, have been used as thickeners and stabilizers for products like sauces and salad dressings for several years. But food technologists have been working to develop other products to use as fat alternatives in many foods.

The first protein-based fat replacer developed was Simplesse, used in foods such as cheeses, frozen desserts, yogurt and mayonnaise.

"Simplesse is specially processed egg, whey and milk proteins that have the same calorie content as other protein foods. The product uses resources that are otherwise wasted, and the texture gives the illusion of fat," Haque said.

Another type of fat replacer is chemical-based.

"Olestra, a synthetic oil, is the main chemical-based fat replacer that has been developed, but because of common unpleasant side effects, the product has not been very successful," Haque said.

Primarily used in potato chips, olestra is not absorbed by the body and can cause very uncomfortable gastrointestinal side effects, including diarrhea, abdominal cramps and nausea.

Haque said the most common problems food technologists must solve when working with fat replacers deal with palatability.

"The most important factor of a product is taste. Since fats produce the flavors and smells, and also store flavors, it can be difficult to maintain tastes when replacing fat with something else," Haque said.

Chewing releases flavors from foods. The key to developing successful fat replacers is to find a product that will release flavors during the five to 10 seconds before food is swallowed.

"A typical problem the industry has is developing products that have the right texture, but not the right taste," Haque said.

Dr. Melissa Mixon, extension nutrition specialist at MSU, said consumers have been eager to try products made with fat replacers, but American eating habits are not necessarily healthier.

"These new low fat and fat free products are in high demand, but many consumers are disillusioned about how much they can eat. If a box of cookies is fat free, it is still unhealthy to eat too many cookies because of the amount of calories," Mixon said.

"Even calories that don't come from fat are important. They can keep a person from losing weight or cause a person to gain weight if they eat more calories than they burn each day," she said.

Mixon said consumers should try new products and experiment with what tastes good. Also read labels on products before buying them.

"People watching their sodium levels or sugar levels should be sure to read labels because when fat is removed from products, something else is put back in to preserve flavors," Mixon said.