alpha-Tocopherol → (2R,3S,4R,5R)-2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxyhexanal

The food additive is prepared by combining a sterol and/or stanol ester of a fatty acid made by the process described herein and an edible solubilizing agent, an effective amount of a suitable antioxidant and an effective amount of a suitable dispersant. The solubilizing agent can be vegetable oil such as, for example, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, rape seed oil, tallow, corn oil, canola oil, linseed oil, palm oil, olive oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, and the like, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycercides, tocopherols, and the like, and mixtures thereof. The antioxidant can be ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), tocopherols such as α-tocopherol (vitamin E), β-carotene, an extract of the bark of the maritime pine, Pinus maritima and combinations thereof. The extract of the bark of the maritime pine, also known as PYCNOGENOL™, contains procyanidines consisting of catechin and epicatechin units linked by C—C bonds to form dimers, trimers and other oligomers up to a chain length of 6-7 molecules and phenolic acids and its glucose derivatives. PYCNOGENOL™ is produced according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,360, which is incorporated herein for reference. The extract used according to the invention may be prepared essentially by extracting maritime pine bark in comminuted form with boiling water, saturating the filtered extract with sodium chloride or, alternatively, adding ammonium sulfate to 20% w/v, separating the precipitate formed, repeatedly extracting the supernatant with 1/10 volume of ethyl acetate, drying the collected ethyl acetate extracts, concentrating the dried extract, pouring it into 3 volumes of chloroform with stirring and collecting the precipitate which may be purified by repeating the dissolution in ethyl acetate and precipitation with chloroform. Mixtures of the above antioxidants can also be used.