September 6, 2000 WASHINGTON (AP) - Those much-touted anti-cholesterol margarines are getting the government's blessing take their advertising a step further - and say they really can lower the risk of heart disease.
The Food and Drug Administration let the margarines Benecol and Take Control begin selling last year, but never explicitly endorsed the products' claims that they "promoted healthy cholesterol" levels.
Now the FDA has concluded that ingredients in the two margarines actually can lower cholesterol enough to reduce the risk of heart disease. It will let the products' labels bear that coveted health claim.
"This is a much stronger claim" than the two margarines have been making, FDA food chief Joseph Levitt said Tuesday.
Benecol, made by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, works through an ingredient called plant stanol ester, derived from pine trees. Lipton's Take Control contains a soybean extract, plant sterol ester.
The FDA reviewed several studies of the products to determine that eating at least two servings a day - totaling 1.3 grams of sterol ester or 3.4 grams of stanol ester - could significantly reduce cholesterol, as long as they're part of a low-fat diet.
"The data presented a strong case," Levitt concluded. The FDA's decision also clears the way for any competing foods that add the right amount of either ingredient to make similar heart-healthy claims.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
