Word: olestra
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Part of the anti-olestra faction's upset stems from the nature of the FDA's mandate. As Kessler reminded the panelists several times during the proceedings, their only task was to decide whether they were reasonably certain that olestra was harmless. Says the commissioner: "It was very important to me to make sure that everyone on that advisory committee understand that framework. The questions were not, 'Does this product make sense? Does this product contribute to the nutritional health of the nation?' That is not the standard...
...money to do its own studies and thus has to rely almost entirely on research done by the petitioners. cspi's Jacobson too is concerned that responsibility for demonstrating a food's safety is shifting to the wrong hands. He notes, "Judging from the FDA's handling of olestra, it appears that to prevent approval, there would have to be absolute proof that a food additive is harmful. It shifts the burden of proof from the company to the public." He also points out that several panel members have worked as consultants to the food industry. (The FDA counters that...
...market and let consumers decide its fate. Chef John Folse, who runs a food-products company as well as his restaurant, thinks he already knows the answer. "If people have the option of going to the grocery store and choosing from 10 oils, one of which is olestra," he predicts, "olestra will fly off the shelves...
WHETHER OR NOT FDA COMMISSIONER DAVID KESSLER decides to approve olestra, his ruling is sure to be bitterly attacked. That's nothing new for the maverick scientist (and, by training, doctor and lawyer), who in his fifth year as the U.S.'s top health official has achieved a rare combination of public controversy and political longevity. He heads the agency everybody loves to hate, yet he's outlasted most of his predecessors...
OKAY, NO MORE JOKES ABOUT FECAL URGENCY AND ANAL leakage. It's mouth-feel time. We have been standing around, five slightly nervous Time journalists who have volunteered to taste potato chips cooked in olestra. Because the stuff has not been approved by the FDA, each of us has signed a Procter & Gamble "informed consent" release, which we notice with some discomfort bears the 800 number of a doctor to call in case of emergency. This fellow, whose name is Sweeney, will chopper in with a medevac team if something goes wrong. Or so we assume...