BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Fabuless (Olibra) is a commercially structured lipid emulsion, claimed to be a food ingredient that is effective for food intake and appetite reduction. The present study assessed its efficacy in a yoghurt-based mini-drink undergoing low or minimal food manufacturing (thermal and shear) processes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Study 1: Twenty-four healthy volunteers (16 female, 8 male; age: 18 --47 years; body mass index (BMI): 17 --28 kg m À2 ) took part in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel crossover trial. Consumption of a minimally processed 'preload' mini-drink (containing two different doses of Fabuless or a control fat) at 2 h after breakfast was followed by appetite and mood ratings, and food intake measured in ad libitum meals at 3 and 7 h post consumption of the preload. Study 2: As Study 1 (16 female, 8 male; age: 20 --54 years; BMI: 21 --30 kg m À2 ). A chilled, virtually unprocessed, preload breakfast mini-drink (containing minimally processed Fabuless or a control fat) was provided 5 min after a standardised breakfast, followed by appetite and mood ratings, and food intake measured in ad libitum meals at 4 and 8 h post consumption of the preload. RESULTS: The structured lipid emulsion tested had no significant effect on the primary measures of food intake or appetite. CONCLUSIONS: Even when exposed to minimal food-manufacturing conditions, Fabuless showed no efficacy on measures of appetite and food intake. Keywords: fats; emulsions; energy intake; appetite; satiety response; food manufacture INTRODUCTION One theoretical approach for the design of foods for weight control could be the application of technologies that deliver increased amounts of food macronutrients to the jejunum and ileum, triggering a satiety response involving glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 (refs 1--4) (reviewed in Maljaars et al. 5 ). A food ingredient that claims to achieve this is Fabuless (previously called Olibra and Reducal), a 42% fat emulsion formulated from oat oil and palm oil fractions currently marketed by the DMS Food Specialties BV (Delft, The Netherlands) for satiety benefits in food applications 6 in around 25 countries. 7 As recently reviewed in a meta-analysis by Appleton et al., 8 an initial series of research publications reported extraordinary effects of Fabuless on energy intake, which was reduced by up to 27% when compared with a control fat. 9 --11 Even the lowest tested concentration of 5% of this product in a yoghurt vehicle produced a remarkable 22% reduction in energy intake 4 h posttreatment. 11 All of these initial studies were performed by the same research group, but the results have never been replicated in latter work, 12 --14 even from the same group. 15 Although Diepvens et al. 12 reported an appetite-suppressing effect of this product only in a subset of young, normal-weight subjects in post-hoc analyses, and a positive effect on body-weight maintenance, the use of a parallel design and the lack of a clear supporting hypothesis makes these results difficult to i...

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