At the same time, heart disease became the No. 1 cause of death. Americans paid heed. The average U.S. diet is now 33 percent fat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the message has been confused. But what most people have heard is simply that fat of any kind is bad.
Many consumers also think all low-fat foods are more healthful.
For us, that's shorthand for a diet high in fruit, vegetables, and grains. But Americans' enchantment with low-fat processed foods may be palling. Dave Jenkins, vice president of the NPD Group, a New York market survey firm, says reduced-fat foods don't taste good enough for most people to buy them consistently. Olestra, synthesized from sugar and vegetable oil, isn't absorbed in the digestive tract but mimics the mouth feel of real fat. The Food and Drug Administration approved it for use in snack foods in 1996, despite concerns that it can cause diarrhea and drain fat-soluble vitamins from the body.