Word: olestra
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fashioned Louisiana way, with generous dollops of oil; every bite tasted heavenly. Yet the whole thing, from soup to dessert, was a low-fat meal. That's because Chef Folse had cooked it not with conventional oil but rather with an experimental--and as yet unapproved--synthetic oil called olestra. Olestra is the stealth missile of fat molecules; it passes through the gastrointestinal tract without being digested or absorbed. As far as the human body is concerned, olestra is fat-free...
...Olestra, however, could make guilt-free eating a pleasure. It doesn't just substitute for fat. It is fat, with all the flavor-enhancing, palate-soothing smoothness of corn or canola oil. And unlike any of the half a dozen or so fat substitutes currently available, olestra doesn't break down when it's used for frying. That means fat-free potato chips, French fries and maybe even Cajun feasts that taste like the real thing could someday be available to the general public...
They could become available, that is, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lets Procter & Gamble put products cooked with olestra on the market. This month, after decades of study and deliberation, that decision should finally come down. Last spring a group of senior FDA scientists concluded that olestra could safely be used in chips and other nonsweet snacks. In November, after four exhaustive days of meetings, most members of an FDA-appointed food advisory committee agreed...
...there's just one more hurdle: FDA commissioner David Kessler has to give final approval before olestra-based snacks can be sold to the public. But while commissioners almost always go along with their scientists' and advisory committees' recommendations, Kessler is weighing this one with special care. Olestra could become a staple in the diets of tens of millions of Americans, so it's crucial that it be safe. Moreover, nearly a third of all Americans are obese, and the combination of high-fat diets and extra weight contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and several types...
...advisory panel said Olestra, a fat substitute that has taken Procter & Gamble 25 years to develop, is probably safe for consumption in goodies like snacks. Olestra has the cooking capabilities and taste of the real thing, but because its molecules are so large, it passes through the body without being digested. Critics say it depletes the body of nutrients and causes diarrhea...