The same vitamins also stick to the fake fat, olestra.

Whether consumers will show enthusiasm for fake fat, though, remains an open question.

National Starch and Chemical introduced N-Lite, a line of six fake fats that can replace natural fat in processed foods.

Welcome to the world of olestra, the fake fat.

One method for creating fake fat that mimics the taste and texture of the real thing is to rearrange ordinary components of foods into something entirely new.

Then again, in 1989 a zero-calorie fake fat - sucrose polyester - was being perfected in Procter & Gamble's laboratories.

Other fake fats win few nods from consumers or the F.D.A. Watch for more silos.

The Food and Drug Administration approved olestra, a fake fat, for use last week - with a warning label.

For instance, he said, several companies are testing "fake fat," which can be used in place of fat but which the body does not absorb.

(The Procter & Gamble people hate it when you call it "fake fat.")