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Putting A Fat Substitute To The Test

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IRENE MAHER, News Channel 8 Medical Editor

Published: November 1, 2007

It sounded perfect: a fat substitute for home cooks. My husband showed me the article in Consumer Reports, and I was very interested. The product, called Z Trim, has no calories, no fat and no cholesterol, and it takes the place in recipes of oil, butter and, in some cases, eggs.

Could this miracle product take my favorite foods, such as cake, brownies and chicken salad, off the forbidden list?

I was eager to put it to the test and share this amazing news with the people of the Tampa Bay area, so I contacted Z Trim Holdings, the company that makes Z Trim. The next day, I received a box of samples, including an assortment of premade products such as salad dressings and a mayonnaise-like spread. The box also included two big bottles of premixed Z Trim for use in recipes.

I could hardly wait to get home to my kitchen. But, before I started baking batches of brownies, I needed to know more about this white, gelatinous goo that I was about to cook with.

Z Trim is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gel made from water and corn hulls. It is designed to replace one-third to one-half of the fat in recipes. According to the manufacturer, Z Trim does not cause gastrointestinal side effects — unlike the fat substitute Olestra, used in snack chips and ice cream — nor does it block the absorption of nutrients. Moreover, it has no aftertaste, isn't gritty and doesn't affect what food manufacturers call the "mouth feel" of foods. And it is heat stable, so it can be used in baking and cooking. But because of its high water content, it can't be used for frying.

Z Trim also can be used as a food extender in scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes and salad dressings.

The manufacturer is marketing Z Trim to consumers like you and me and to school systems trying to lower fat and calories in cafeteria food. Z Trim's director of sales, Jon Dickl, told me that items such as baked ziti, calzones, wheat rolls and ranch dressing have been lightened up with Z Trim without students noticing a difference.

A 10-month test run in the Pittsburgh public schools, however, did spark controversy when parents found out, after the fact, that Z Trim had been introduced without their permission.

Nationally, six school districts and two universities currently use Z Trim, and the company is pitching it to eight school districts in Florida, including those in Pasco and Highlands counties.

I started my product testing with a recipe from the Z Trim Web site, using a box of brownie mix. I made one pan with traditional ingredients, including one-third cup of oil, an egg and water. Then I made the second box with just a quarter cup of oil, one-third cup of water and two tablespoons of Z Trim. Delicious. And they looked just as good as the regular brownies.

The Z Trim brownies were also a bit moister than the regular brownies. Nutritionally, there's about a 27-calorie difference between the two brownies (assuming you cut the pan into eight brownies), but, using Z Trim, you've made them practically fat and cholesterol free without sacrificing texture, moistness or eye appeal. A calorie saved is a calorie saved.

Then I wanted to try it in a made-from-scratch baked item. I pulled out my favorite never-fail yellow cake recipe and replaced one stick of butter with a half cup of Z Trim and used an egg substitute (a quarter cup per egg) in place of the four eggs called for. The end result was just as flavorful as the full fat, full cholesterol cake. The Z Trim cake was slightly lighter in color than the regular cake, but it baked up beautifully. And, like the brownies, the Z Trim cake was slightly denser and moister than the regular recipe cake — a definite plus in my book.

My unscientific calorie count was based on cutting one unfrosted 8-inch layer into eight wedges. The Z Trim cake had 59 fewer calories per slice. Plus, using egg substitute saved 54 milligrams of cholesterol per slice. If you're someone who likes to eat cake everyday, that's a big deal. Cutting 50 calories from your daily diet can add up to a five-pound weight loss at the end of a year.

Now it was time to put Z Trim to the real test. How would the salad dressings taste and the Z Trim mayo spread in chicken salad? While the chicken poached, I got out lettuce, cherry tomatoes and baby carrots and poured some of each dressing into four dipping bowls. The Z Trim Creamy Italian, at 25 calories per tablespoon, tasted like any other diet Italian dressing on grocery shelves, and I'm not crazy about any of them. I didn't like the 20-calorie Z Trim Balsamic Vinaigrette at all. The ranch dressing, at 25 calories and 2 grams of fat, was better than any reduced calorie ranch I've ever tasted, and the honey Dijon was wonderful for 25 calories per tablespoon and 3 grams of fat. I also tried the Z Trim mayo spread, 25 calories per tablespoon and 2.5 grams of fat, on a grilled chicken sandwich, and I didn't notice any difference in flavor compared to regular mayo.

But, for me, the real test comes when you put the product center stage in a chicken salad. Regular mayonnaise averages, per tablespoon, about 90 calories and 10 grams of fat. Yikes! For the sake of comparison, I made three small bowls of chicken salad: one with regular mayo, one with a national brand reduced-fat mayo (20 calories per tablespoon and 2 grams fat) and one with Z Trim mayo spread. I labeled each bowl on the bottom and rearranged the bowls to simulate a blind taste test. The regular mayo salad won. Z Trim came in second, and the reduced-fat mayo was my least favorite. But when you consider that the single serving of chicken salad made with real mayo packed in more than 475 calories and 40 grams of fat, compared to 150 calories and 10 grams of fat for the Z Trim salad, Z Trim might win in some households.

Would I buy and use Z Trim on a regular basis? Probably not. The savings in fat and calories aren't enough of an incentive, especially in foods I can easily (sigh) avoid. But if I was cooking for someone on a special diet who needed to cut every possible calorie and fat gram without giving up high impact foods like chicken salad, ranch dressing and brownies, then I probably would use it. Especially in baking. It's one way for you to have your cake and eat it, too.

For information, go to www.ztrim.com.

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