Non-digestible fat substitutes of low-caloric value

Abstract

Low calorie food compositions containing fat-type organoleptic ingredients and non-fat ingredients, wherein natural fats and synthetic fat mimetics are blended in proportion to provide any predetermined amount of fat caloric value, said synthetic fat-type mimetic ingredients comprising esterified epoxide-extended polyols (EEEPs) of the formula P(OH).sub.a+c (EPO).sub.n (FE).sub.b where P is a polyol having a=2-8 primary hydroxyls, c=0-8 secondary and tertiary hydroxyls, a+c is in the range of 3-8, EPO is a C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 epoxide, FE is a fatty acid acyl moiety, n is the minimum epoxylation index average number having a value generally equal to or greater than a and is a number sufficient that greater than 95% of the primary hydroxyls of the polyol are converted to secondary or tertiary hydroxyls, and 2<b.ltoreq.a+c. The EEEP's have general use as non-digestable fat substitutes having non-caloric food values, good organoleptic characteristics (mouth feel), are substantially resistant to intestinal absorption, do not appreciably hydrolyze in the digestive tract, and have characteristics similar to vegetable oils and fats. Suitable polyols include sugars, glycerides or saccharides which are reacted (etherified) with C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 epoxides such as propylene oxide, butylene oxide, isobutylene oxide, pentene oxide, and the like to produce epoxide-extended polyols (EEPs) having an epoxylation index number, n, generally in the range of 2-8 and then acylated with C.sub.8-24 fatty acids. Best mode examples are acylated propoxylated glycerol compound mixtures (APGs) which are resistant to pancreatic lipase in vitro, and feeding studies show them to be suitably resistant to overall digestion.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.