THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250430
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Americans soon will be eating potato chips made with the first zero-calorie artificial fat.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Procter & Gamble's olestra Wednesday, over the protests of some scientists who called the fake fat dangerous.
The FDA warned consumers that olestra can cause such gastrointestinal side effects as diarrhea and can literally cleanse the body of certain nutrients when it is eaten along with a lunchtime bowl of soup or pile of carrot sticks.
The FDA concluded that some people will find olestra unpleasant, but that it is safe for the general population to eat in potato chips and other snacks - as long as the foods bear a label warning of side effects.
Procter & Gamble spent 25 years and $250 million developing olestra, which it will sell under the brand name Olean.
``It's pivotal to help get our fat intake down'' for better health, and olestra will help Americans do that, said spokeswoman Wendy Jacques.
But consumer advocate Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged Americans not to eat olestra because it depletes nutrients believed to fight disease.
``It will cause everything from diarrhea to cancer, heart disease and blindness,'' said Jacobson, who threatened to sue to block olestra's sale.
Olestra, a synthetic chemical made of sugar and vegetable oil, looks like regular fat, but its molecules are too large and tightly packed to digest. So it passes through the body without stopping to clog arteries or fatten hips.
One ounce of regular potato chips has 10 grams of fat and 150 calories, but olestra chips have no fat and just 60 calories, about the same as a plain baked potato.
There are other fat substitutes on the market, but none can withstand the high heat of frying and none is calorie-free like olestra. The low-fat chips sold today reduce fat by baking instead of frying, giving them a different taste.
KEYWORDS: FDA FAT SUBSTITUTE OLESTRA by CNB