Margarine As Health Food?

By Ann Blackman/Washington

Generations of butter lovers have held that margarine should not qualify as a food. Now there's a margarine manufacturer that agrees. The makers of Benecol spread consider it a nutritional supplement. Not only will it not raise your overall blood cholesterol, they say; studies show that it will lower it as much as 9%.

A division of Johnson & Johnson plans to test-market Benecol in January and hopes it will prove as popular here as it has in Finland. The smooth yellow spread has been sold there since 1995, and stores have had trouble keeping it in stock, even at prices six times that of ordinary margarine.

But before Johnson & Johnson can sell the stuff to Americans, it must first resolve a dispute with the FDA. The agency claims authority to vet all new ingredients in food, including the key ingredient in Benecol: sitostanol, derived from pine trees. The substance appears to help reduce the body's absorption of dietary cholesterol into the blood. But the FDA says Benecol's makers cannot advertise specific health benefits without proving them through the agency's rigorous testing process--one that many companies consider unnecessarily bureaucratic and expensive. That's why Johnson & Johnson designates Benecol as a nutritional supplement. Such products are exempt from most FDA regulations under a 1994 law.

And how does Benecol taste? Nothing like a pine tree, we're pleased to report. It's mild, with a slightly nutty flavor.

--By Ann Blackman/Washington