9. Elisabeth M. Kirschner, "Fake Fats in Real Food," Chemical and Engineering News, 75(16), 19-26 (21 Apr 97).Describing the efforts to make substances that do everything like fats except digest like one is a fascinating STS adjunct to biochemistry. One approach, used by Procter and Gamble's olestra, is to link fatty acids to something other than gylcerine; olestra links six to eight fatty acids to sucrose molecules. Since the molecule is far more complex than three fatty acids linked to glycerine, olestra passes through the body undigested. Other tamperings with the structure of fat molecules include insertion of propylene glycol molecules between the glycerine and fatty acids (being developed by Arco Chemical) and replacing the fatty acids with shorter-chain acids (as in "salatrim," which is an acronym for "short-and long-chain triglyceride molecules"). Nabisco's version of "salatrim," known as "Benefat," is not calorie-free, however; it still provides 5 Calories per gram, still more than the 4 Calories per gram of carbohydrates and proteins. Another version, using medium chain triglycerols, provides 8.3 Calories per gram, only 8% less than the normal 9 Calories per gram from fat.
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