Low-Fat Foods

Low-fat foods are a modern phenomenon emerging from health concerns about food-related chronic diseases. Many low-fat foods are highly processed, and reducing fat in a product requires a replacement to address the functionalities of fat in food such as mouth feel, flavor, and texture. Equally important, fat replacers change the nutrition of the food. Some past commercially patented fat replacers such as olestra and Enova oil are even questionably safe for consumption. While decades of science and government advice recommended decreasing fat intake to lower population risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer, current science maintains that quantity of fat is less important than quality of fat. Still, much of labeling regulation rests on assumptions of the relationship between low-fat foods and diets ...