OLESTRA Olestra is a chemical fat-free food add

Olestra is a chemical fat-free food additive which was conditionally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 24, 1996 for use in savory snack foods. A major new food product developed by Proctor & Gamble (P&G) at great expense, potato chips containing olestra underwent test marketing in supermarkets in three American cities, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Grand Junction, Colorado in May and June, 1996). Olestra potato chips will soon to be introduced on a mass-marketing basis in retail stores throughout the nation. This latest addition to the junk food market has generated considerable controversy because of concerns expressed in health and scientific quarters regarding its possibly deleterious effects on human health.

Since 1971, Procter & Gamble, the world's largest foodmaker, has invested approximately $300 million in developing olestra (Miller & Springer, 1996, p. 50). Olestra is a sucrose polyester, which is made by combining sugar with fatty acids (six triglycerides). P & G originally intended olestra as a new cholesterol reducing investigatory drug in 1971. In 1975, P&G filed a petition with FDA for approval on that basis, but withdrew it in 1988. P&G filed a new petition for approval of olestra by FDA in 1990 as a fat substitute in all foods, which it later narrowed to savory snack foods. (Hunter, 1996, p. 10). Over 25 years P & G claims to have conducted more than 150 studies, including 43 c

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al and persistent critic of olestra, during the FDA approval process and subsequently, has been an organization associated with Ralph Nader, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). According to Hunter (1996), five out of the 20 members of FAC "expressed strong reservations about olestra's proven safety" (p. 14). In approving the product for use in savory snacks, FDA Commissioner Kessler concluded that there was no significant medical evidence that olestra caused serious health risks. However, FDA conditioned its approval on P&G continuing to conduct studies to monitor the effects of olestra consumption, the results of which will be reviewed by FAC within thirty months after January 24, 1996. P&G was also required to affix a label to packages of food products containing olestra which provides as follows: "The product contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools. Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients. Vitamins A, D., E and K have been added." (Blackburn, 1996, p. 984). More is known about the short-term than about the long- term effects of olestra consumption. The olestra molecule is much larger than the fatty molecule for which it is a

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