Glee for ghee butter fans as Indian researchers develop low cholesterol variety
According to the paper, cholesterol levels present in 100g of ghee are usually around 300 mg. But the new process claims to be able to remove up to 85 per cent of cholesterol without affecting Indian Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) rules.
Low fat ghee is produced by treating cow or buffalo cream with an additive called beta-cyclodextrin before making the ghee. NDRI tests on products produced in this fashion found that the ghee's physical and chemical properties were similar, aside from a loss of Vitamin D.
But Dr Umesh Kapil, professor of nutrition at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences told The Mail that consumers should not be encouraged to eat more ghee simply because it was lower in cholesterol.
'It is a good innovation, but such ghee would be useful only for people who consume large amounts of visible fat in the form of oils and ghee,' he said.
