Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510260056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Well, Procter & Gamble says it has the answer for fat-obsessed America. Next month, the Food and Drug Administration will decide whether to approve a fat substitute called olestra that tastes and feels exactly like fat - in fact, it really IS fat - but is engineered so it is too large to be absorbed. It passes right through the body.
No calories. No fat grams. Nothing to show for your indulgence but a touch of grease around the lips.
Sounds perfect, right?
Maybe not. A consumer group warned Wednesday that olestra is a nutrient-robbing blob that sucks out important vitamins as it passes through the digestive tract.
And that's not all. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, the same group that cautioned against fatty Mexican enchiladas and movie popcorn, said Procter & Gamble's own studies show that olestra consumption can leave its mark in some rather unpleasant ways - cramps, gas, diarrhea and related problems.
``We think that Americans want to eat potato chips without risking diarrhea,'' said CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson. ``Or perhaps Procter & Gamble should be required to include a couple of Pampers with each bag of olestra chips it sells.''
At a competing news conference in the same Washington hotel, Procter & Gamble officials and scientists insisted their product, which they want to market as ``Olean,'' is safe. They called the CSPI's warnings ... well, a little overweight.
They didn't deny that as olestra-laced potato chips seep through the body, they take vitamins A, D, E and K with it. But they said they are enriching their olestra products with those vitamins to make up for it. And the vitamin-snatching happens only if you eat olestra products with other foods, as at lunch.
``People generally don't eat a bag of potato chips at the time when they have their main meal,'' said Dr. Gary Williams, with the American Health Foundation. ``And when you think of it, how many times do you eat potato chips with carrot sticks?''
Besides, Williams said, olestra has company. Other foods, including milk and tea, leach vitamins and minerals from the body.
Dr. Chris Hassall, a scientist who works for Procter & Gamble, also did not deny that some people in controlled studies experienced gastrointestinal discomfort when they ate olestra ``savory snacks.'' But, he said, the number was only 2 percent in a study of some 3,000 people, and mirrored exactly the experience of those who ate full-fat goodies.
The CSPI data, he said, showed only the extreme upper end of studies and does not reflect the real world. However, Hassall hedged on questions about just how much olestra one must eat before unpleasant symptoms set in.
Procter & Gamble, whose patents for olestra are about to expire after nearly two decades and $250 million poured into research, maintains that olestra will more than make up for any deficiency by helping chunky Americans cut down on fat.
``I cannot believe that any obese American would want to eat something that gives them diarrhea,'' CSPI's Jacobsen said. ``Or maybe, God forbid, they should just switch to carrots and celery sticks.''
by CNB