Why make light of the fat Avocado?

The fascination for a diet version of just about everything is clearly eternal. Now, even the humble avocado — whose USP is its rich creaminess — has a diet version that apparently has 30 per cent less fat. While there is a reason to go for lean meats, the notion of a lean vegetable is hard to swallow. It is rather like low-fat cream and peanut butter — more to assuage guilt than promote health. When the skinny on avocados is that their fat is not, well, fattening — unlike that of meat — slimming them down appears to be quite pointless.

More so since avocados help reduce "bad" cholesterol. In any case, very few people devour entire avocados, so, even a 30 per cent reduction would not make a noticeable difference. However, there is clearly a market for them, for no sooner has a Spanish company come out with an 'Avocado Light' this month, growers in the US and Mexico have promptly said they have been selling even lighter ones — 35 per cent less fat — for years.

Demonising fat was supposedly finally winding down, given that eggs, ghee, butter and coconut oil have all been allowed back into polite company. Therefore, the need to breed "light" fruit and vegetables should have been a non-starter. Avocados are not a "thing" here yet, but Indians would probably appreciate similar non-GM efforts to breed, say, low-sugar and low-calorie mangoes.