Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Fat and Oil Replacers 535
potentially be replaced in the diet, approval will be on a category-by-category
basis until there is an adequate comfort level with any potential side effects.
Although the ‘‘ultimate fat substitute’’—heat-stable, fryable—seems to be
in the olestra-type class, other developers of fats have chosen a more limited
route. Several companies have worked toward synthesizing carefully structured
triglycerides with a glycerol backbone, viewing GRAS approval as a much faster
route to regulatory acceptance. This is usually done through interesterification,
a modification process that results in the rearrangement of the fatty acids of the
triglyceride molecule. Through choices of starting materials (different oils or
fats), catalysts and/or enzymes, and kinetics, this reaction can be more directed
toward a relatively specific end product. This means that the choice of fatty acids
involved, as well as their relative ratios, can be limited. Interesterification has
been used for some time as a more randomized process to produce plastic fats
from animal/vegetable fat blends for use in margarines. The first product commercialized
under this grouping was caprenin, a reduced-calorie designer fat consisting
of three fatty acids: capryllic (eight carbon atoms, no double bonds), capric
(10 carbon atoms, no double bonds), and behenic acid (22 carbons, no double
bonds). Behenic acid is only partially absorbed by the body, and the mediumchain
fatty acids have lower caloric densities than longer-chain fatty acids,
resulting in a total caloric density for caprenin of 5 kcal/g. Caprenin was commercialized
as a cocoa butter replacer and was launched in two products. Unfortunately,
the product had difficult tempering characteristics and appeared to
increase serum cholesterol slightly, resulting in its withdrawal from the market.
As caprenin was being tested, another family of restructured fats was being
developed by Nabisco Foods Group, Parsippany, NJ. Salatrim, which is an acronym
for short and long acyltriglyceride molecule, is a family of structured triglycerides
based on the use of at least one SC fatty acid and at least one LC fatty
acid (stearic, C-18). Salatrim triglycerides typically contain one or two stearic
acids combined with specific ratios of SC fatty acids (acetic, C-2; propionic, C-
3; and butyric, C-4). As with naturally occurring triglycerides, the properties of
salatrim are dictated by the fatty acids used, as well as their position of the molecule.
The first product, trademarked Benefat 1, was developed to replace cocoa
butter in confectionery applications. A GRAS petition was filed in December
1993 and was accepted for filing by FDA in June 1994. Safety studies have shown
no effect on serum cholesterol, no effect on absorption of fat-soluble vitamins,
and have verified the safety of the molecule. Salatrim is the generic name for
this class of molecules, and it is the name used on an ingredient legend. Because
of the lower caloric density of stearic acid and the SC fatty acids, salatrim contributes
a total of 5 kcal/g. Because the FDA has no regulation for food factors
regarding fat reduction (only calories), these claims resulted in some controversy
and discussion at FDA. In its 1994 petition, Nabisco claimed that because five-