GUELPH, ONT. — Researchers added soluble soybean polysaccharide to increase the dietary fiber content of milk shake-style beverages, puddings and low-fat ice cream in a study appearing on-line July 27 in the Journal of Food Science.

The polysaccharide was extracted and refined from okara, a byproduct of soy manufacturing. The University of Guelph researchers added it at a level of 4% in both the beverage and the pudding and at 2% in the ice cream.

The products were within the acceptable ranges of rheological parameters and other physical stability measurements and were judged to be acceptable by sensory analyses, according to the researchers.