Deja View : An updated look at some of the people, places and programs featured in Valley View during the year : NUTRITION : Developer of Fat Substitute Awaits U. S. OK

The Cal State Northridge student who developed a fat substitute known as Konjac is anxiously awaiting a ruling from the federal Food and Drug Administration on her discovery.

In February, Terri Lisagor was a graduate student in home economics when she found that a non-caloric powder made from a Japanese root, Amorphophallus konjac, could be used in baked goods in place of butter or oil. She successfully made hundreds of cookies, cheesecakes and muffins with Konjac as a complete or partial substitute.

And the taste, although not up to the standards of fat-gorged treats, was not bad, according to a non-scientific survey of Times reporters.

Since the story appeared, Lisagor said she has gotten highly favorable feedback at food science conventions where she presented her findings. And a Japan-based company, to which she is a consultant, bought land in Nebraska and is using it to grow the first crop of the root in the United States.

But Konjac cannot move into the commercial market until the FDA declares it safe, and that hinges on an upcoming determination on the nature of Konjac.

“If the FDA calls it a food additive, it will have to go through more testing,” Lisagor said, speaking from CSUN, where she is now a food science teacher. “But if they give us an opinion that it is a food that is generally recognized as safe, then we can go ahead with plans for manufacturing.”

Lisagor said the decision is long delayed partly because at one point the FDA misplaced the paperwork she had sent in. “It’s frustrating, but we hope it will happen soon,” she said.

If Konjac is approved and is a hit, it will be the first major discovery to come out of CSUN’s food science lab.