What is Z Trim?:
Z Trim is a fat substitute that just might let you have your cake and eat it too. So what is Z Trim, and is it safe?Replacing Fat With Fiber:
Developed by a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture back in 1995, Z Trim is a corn-based, zero-calorie fat substitute that can replace up to half the fat in a food, without altering its taste or texture. FiberGel Technologies, a subsidiary of Z Trim Holdings, bought the rights to develop Z Trim in 2002. Since then, the company has been finessing both the product and the manufacturing process.Z Trim is a gel formed from 96 percent water and 4 percent fiber derived from corn hulls, a by-product commonly fed to cattle or added to dog food. Wrongly identified by some as an interesterified fat, Z Trim is not any kind of oil or fat, let alone a modified one. Nor is it a gum, such as carrageenan or xanthan gum, which can affect the texture of reduced-fat foods.
The gel itself is odorless and taste-free (I tested a sample bottle), and baked goods made with Z Trim were moist and tasty, with good texture and no odd aftertaste. Also available in powder form, Z Trim can be used as a fat replacer in all kinds of foods from salad dressings to cakes. Although Z Trim is heat-stable, it can't be used for frying.
Z Trim was used to replace some of the fat in salad dressing and mayonnaise served to students in a suburban Pittsburgh High School. Controversially, it was 10 months before the substitution was revealed to students and parents. But Z Trim is recognized as safe, not only by the USDA, but even by the hyper-critical Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-advocacy group best known for waging war on trans fats.
No Gastro-Intestinal Distress:
Consumers have been wary of fat substitutes since the days of Olestra. Marketed as Olean, it caused bloating, gastro-intestinal distress, and worse. Mercifully, Z Trim doesn't result in the anal leakage caused by some other fat substitutes. Nor does it cause any kind of gastro-intestinal distress, a claim supported by the results of preliminary studies conducted at Eastern Illinois University and the Edward Heart Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. At worst, it could cause mild flatulence in those unused to eating much fiber.Z Trim's Future?:
So is Z Trim the magic ingredient we've been searching for? It certainly has the support of doctors and nutritionists. Z Trim received a boost from bestselling authors Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their bestselling book You: On a Diet, who described Z Trim as "a substance that may eventually change the way we eat." And Consumer Reports magazine gave Z Trim a thumbs up in Fall 2007.The company has been talking with a number of unnamed firms about using Z Trim in their products, but has had its share of disappointments in the past as deals with Nestle and George Foreman failed to bear fruit.
Undaunted, Z Trim says it has plenty of interest in its product. Indeed at the May 2008 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, there were samples of Heinz Heart Healthy Salad Dressings made with Z Trim. The company also says that a well-known coffee house chain is using Z Trim in some of its baked goods.
To learn more about Z Trim, visit ztrim.com
