Oil and fat consumption are considered a major factor increasing health risks such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, etc. As a consequence, consumer trends are slowly moving toward healthier foods and low-fat products, creating the need to reduce the amount of oil absorbed in fried products and reduce fat content in meat products. Deep fried foods are globally appreciated due to their distinct flavor, taste, aroma and crunchy texture. However, there is an increasing consumer's awareness about the considerable fat content in deep fried foods. Lowering the overall fat content without adversely altering the crispy outer layer and softer inner texture will enhance the appeal of fried foods. A batter/ breader coating technology with modified methyl cellulose was developed to coat fried food before frying, and thus to control and reduce the oil uptake due to the film forming property of the coating. The coating behaves as an oil barrier to block the entrance for excess oil penetration into food matrix. This work has enabled us to develop technologies that achieve > 30% reduction in the fat content of several deep fried foods including French fries, chicken nuggets, fried fish etc. Full fat meat products provide great texture and taste. The fat content is key for sensory of such products. In low fat meat products methylcellulose offers structure and bite for example in low fat sausages. Emulsions with water content up to 90%, stabilized by methyl cellulose, are used to replace unhealthy saturated fats or reduce the total fat content up to 30% in meat applications. Due to thermal gelation of methyl cellulose the meat products provide excellent succulent mouth feel. Novel methyl cellulose with lower melt back temperature is able to even provide juicy bite at cold temperature.
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