The practical equilibrium conditions were determined for the extraction of cholesterol from dehydrated egg yolk using acetone as solvent. Under these conditions the equilibrium data were obtained. A computer program based on the equilibrium data and mass balance equations was developed for the simulation of a multistage countercurrent extraction process. The practical equilibrium conditions were: temperature 25 degrees C, stirring speed 100 rpm and contact time 15 min. The simulation allowed for the determination of the number of theoretical stages for a given residual cholesterol in the raffinate phase, and showed that modification of the operating conditions is possible to obtain a higher cholesterol yield.