Lipton Introduces Cholesterol-Lowering Spread at FMI Convention

Lipton introduced its new functional food offering, Take Control, to supermarket retailers yesterday at the Food Marketing Institute Convention in Chicago. The spread, which is aimed at consumers concerned about cholesterol levels, was debuted immediately following Lipton's announcement that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had completed a review of the company's safety determination for the product.

Take Control contains a soybean extract called plant sterols which "are naturally occurring plant extracts that work as part of the normal digestive process to help block the absorption of cholesterol", says Dr. Ernest Schaefer, chief, Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Lipton recommends eating one to two servings of Take Control a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The company said that the product tastes like a full-flavored margarine or spread, is low in saturated fat, free of trans fatty acids and contains six grams of fat per serving.

Take Control will begin appearing in the dairy cases of grocery stores across America within the next two weeks. It will be available in two forms: a 10-oz tub and a unit of 16 portion packages. The product is low in saturated fat, free of trans fatty acids and contains 6-g of fat and 1.1-g soybean extract per tablespoon serving.

Lipton (Englewood, NJ) is an operating unit of Unilever, the world's leading manufacturer of margarines and spreads.