Borregaard, a Norwegian biorefinery, is debuting a product called Sense-Fi. According to nutritional company Socius, it has the texture and feel of fat, but none of the calories. Sense-Fi is made from microfibrillated cellulose, a waste product produced when trees are turned into timber.
Now, after spending $36.3 million over 10 years of research and development, Borregaard has started selling Sense-Fi to the US food industry.
"We're rolling it out primarily in the US, where it has been approved. Sales are just about underway, and there is a lot of focus on fighting obesity," said the company's business director, Harald Rønneberg Borregaard.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35 percent of US adults – approximately 78.6 million people – are obese, costing the United States $147 billion in obesity-related medical treatments in 2008. Norway, on the other hand, has an obesity rate of just ten percent, as of 2012.
Sense-Fi is a thickener that looks like a white cream. It can be used in ice cream, mayonnaise, yogurt and reconstituted meat, such as hot dogs. It also has extra fiber, which aids digestion and fills one up quicker.
