Nothing Flat'', "Healthy Indulgences'', "The Best Low Fat No Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook Ever'' and "365 Delicious Low-fat Recipes.'' Spurred by the runaway success of "In the Kitchen with Rosie'' by the personal low-fat cook of once-plump talkshow host Ophrah Winfrey, major publishing houses are in overdrive churning out low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt recipe collections.

The "Rosie'' book has sold over five million copies and, as one industry wag observed: "The low-fat cookbook market is far from saturated.'' The genre is still doing very well, though exact sales figures on cookbooks are hard to come by, said Jeff Perlah, an associate editor at American Bookseller magazine. Nor are all the low-fat gurus well-known restauranteurs or cooks for high-profile television talk show hosts as "Rosie'' was.

Barbara Richter, a self-taught cook, found herself in charge of her family's meal preparations as a teenager in the 1960s. The Glenview, Illinois housewife developed and refined her recipes over the years and in February she self-published "Eat Like a Horse and Lose Weight,'' an easy-to-follow no-nonsense, paperback, liberally illustrated with quirky line sketches by her husband. The initial press run was a modest 5,000 but Richter already is discussing the second printing.

"What separates my book from the pack: The recipes, though low in fat, are filled with flavour, and they coordinate well with one another,'' Richter said. "The food is all real.'' *** A study published this week concludes that lactose intolerance is probably not responsible for bouts of intestinal mayhem that people often blame on milk.

About one-quarter of people in the US, and three-quarters worldwide, are lactose intolerant. They lack an enzyme that allows them to digest lactose, the sugar in milk.

Drinking large amounts of milk, such as a litre at one sitting, will almost certainly cause problems for these people. But many claim they cannot even put cream in their coffee without suffering gas, bloating and cramps. For these people, the results of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine will probably be hard to swallow.

"The final result is, there is virtually nobody out there who cannot tolerate a glass of milk a day,'' said Dr. Michael D. Levitt, the study's senior author.

Researchers based at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis posted ads to recruit people who thought they were severely lactose intolerant. They complained of abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence or diarrhea after drinking milk.

First, the researchers tested 30 volunteers to see if they were truly lactose intolerant. A simple breath test revealed that 21 actually were. The nine others could digest lactose, despite their beliefs to the contrary.

Next, all 30 were assigned to drink an 8-ounce glass of milk with breakfast.

For one week, they got milk that was treated with the enzyme lactase to break down the milk sugar. For another week, they got ordinary milk that was slightly sweetened to taste like the treated milk. Neither the researchers nor the volunteers knew which they were drinking.

The volunteers rated their intestinal discomfort each week on a scale of 0 to 5. When the experiment was over, there was no difference. On both kinds of milk, the scores averaged less than one.

"A lot of people won't believe this study,'' Levitt said. "Some are awfully wedded to the idea that a drop of lactose will give them symptoms.'' *** New on the information superhighway: A Louisiana gumbo recipe from Sen. John Breaux.

Members of Congress are finding that they can put a lot more information on the global Internet computer network than just their speeches, press releases and criticism of the opposing party.

Lawmakers can use the Internet to give their constituents an electronic handshake, while voters can use it as a sounding board on the issues.

Some are more creative, such as Breaux's gumbo recipe.

"My wife Lois and I love to cook. Here's one of our favourite Louisiana recipes,'' Breaux says.