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Warning: this snack might cause a poop reportPosted 01.17.2006 by scatoman
Think about it. You fancy a snack -- chips, maybe. So you reach for a bag of the low-fat variety and munch on them. And soon after -- it's disaster! Abdominal cramps, bloating, a desperate need to go and empty your bowels… could it be the chips?
Well, if they contain Olestra, then it seems so. Olestra, an indigestable fat-like substitute for real fat, was invented in 1968 by researchers at Procter and Gamble, but it endured years of wrangling with the FDA and didn't appear in snack foods until 1996. After nearly thirty years of arguing over patents and safety aspects, it must have been a real cause for celebration for the pharmaceutical bigwigs finally to have their product marketed. Well, almost. It was a far from perfect product, you see -- so the FDA required all foods containing Olestra to carry a label: "This 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." Basically, Olestra might give you the shits. Why, then, did a woman in Massachusetts who ate some Olestra-containing chips, want to sue Frito Lay -- especially because, unlike me, Blame the branding. Since the chips she ate were marketed as Frito Lay's Ruffles Light, she thought they were different from the Frito Lay's Ruffles WOW, which she knew to contain Olestra. Hmm, that's rather crafty, isn't it? What a pretty ploy! That's what Steve Gardner, litigation director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, thinks, anyway -- he says that this labeling is "really tricking consumers." That's because in 2003 the FDA dropped the legal requirement to warn people about the possible effects of Olestra ingestion. Why? You guessed it: "pressure from the food industry ." Soon after, Frito-Lay replaced the WOW brand with the Light brand -- with no warning label on the Light. Crikey! No warning? Surely there must have been a fair few complaints from people eating the stuff without knowing it, right? Yes indeed. Tap "olestra" into Google and the first link you will see is not a triumphant page from its makers trumpeting its greatness as a food additive. Rather, it's the webpage for Olestra from the CPSI. The first thing you see on the page: "Gotten sick from eating OLESTRA (Olean)? Fill out our REPORT FORM!" I must confess: when I first saw the article about the chip-eating woman's intended action against the company, my initial reaction was skepticism. "What an idiot! Can't she read a warning? Is having the shits any reason to sue someone? Every time I eat Mexican food, I shit rusty water… I could sue every Mexican restaurant in the country. In fact, every Mongolian Grill, some sandwich bars, certain pizza places, and Burger King! Oh, and certainly every brewery!" Yet after delving further into the sludgy slime of Olestra, I can well understand why something ought to be done. Why would the FDA approve a substance that causes "diarrhea, flatulence, greasy stools, stained underwear, orange-colored oil in toilet bowls, and cramps?" And shitting your pants in public? And worse, trips to the emergency room? And worse still, surgery? The CSPI has documented all that and more. In fact, in the past decade the FDA has received more than 20,000 complaints about Olestra. You might think 20,000 is nothing compared with the number of people who must eat the products and feel absolutely fine. Well, according to the CPSI, the 20,000 complaints about Olestra amount to "more complaints than for all other food additives combined." Yet the FDA bowed to food industry lobbying pressure, and doesn't require a warning label. If the corporations won't accept the responsibility to warn consumers about the unnatural effects of an unnatural substance, then the consumers will have to be vigilant. Until the labels are brought back (if it ever happens), make sure you read the list of ingredients on every snack you buy, just like a gluten-intolerant person would. Either that, or avoid snack food. Your vigilance will be rewarded by solidity. Show some poop support, or make a poop retort.
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she knew all about Olestra?
