(don't buy) Frito-Lay "Light" products

[a_turncoat]

I bought the new Lay's "Light" potato chips the other day, curious as to whether they are any differant to the regular Lay's potato chips. I looked at the ingredients panel and nothing non-veg jumped out of me. I got home and tried some and they were greasy! I thought, "what the hell would make this greasy without having a trace of fat?" I thought it was vitamin a palminate for a long time, then noticed "Olestra." I did a quick search and I found a lot of disturbing things about Olestra.

Olestra was once used in the now failed and archaic "Wow!" potato chips.

Olestra is a fake-fat. It is a fat, but it has a chemical that makes the body inable to break it down. It is made and marketed by Proctor and Gamble. List under "bad food additives."

so what's the health problem with olestra? It causes digestive problems (diarhrea) and inhibits the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, including cartenoids.

http://www.olean.com/ - brand Olestra
http://www.mercola.com/2004/nov/10/olestra.htm - lists more side-effects
http://www.cspinet.org/olestra/ - Olestra reports
http://www.cspinet.org/olestra/11cons.html -same site, the best report
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9902/15/olestra.test/ - pro-olestra "industry study" article... but also provides with this quote "More than 15,000 consumers have filed complaints, saying Olestra products have caused problems ranging from gas to bloody stool to cramps so severe they had to be treated at emergency rooms."


thanks, proctor and gamble! :moonpie:

[organicorange]

Hehe - in my nutrition classes we talked about Olestra. It's just a crazy chemical compound that your body doesn't recognise so it just passes through. Problem is it comes out the same way it goes in - and that's super greasy. Aka - don't eat too much lest you risk anal seepage.....

[Minibean]

Ewww. I'm glad we have stricter food regulations in Canada. I'm pretty sure products containing Olestra can't be sold here.

[ynaffit]

i had the wow! chips several times and never experienced gas or diarrhea or anything from them.

[Jinga]

I think I am immune to Olestra woes. I once at an entire large bag of WOW chips in an attempt to see if I'd have problems (don't ask). I didn't even get a stomach ache. *shrugs* Maybe all the aspartame I consume cancels out the Olestra. I'm one weird chemical reaction.

[rabid_child]

I didn't know they still made olestra stuff...

Get Terra's ruffley Sweet & White chips instead. Soo goood...

[Rowan]

These are actually just the WOW chips in a different package. Frito-Lay did this to boost sales, which unfortunately worked great for them. :-/

[Marie]

I've never had any problems with Olestra.

[FreshTart]

Ewww. I'm glad we have stricter food regulations in Canada. I'm pretty sure products containing Olestra can't be sold here.

I've never seen them there, either. I believe they were banned.

I lied in Albany, NY for a month on business and picked up a bag to try them. Like Jinga, I ate the entire bag. I got a little crampy, but I think that was because I was also eating ice cream and pop along with it :D

[CharityAJO]

Yah, I remember when Wow! came out. I spent a night on the toilet.

[CharityAJO]

I feel like I'm always telling VBers that "I spent the night on the toilet."

[bluewisdom]

I feel like I'm always telling VBers that "I spent the night on the toilet."

:p :lol: :flush:

I haven't tried these chips (and I'm not going to), however I saw them at the grocery store one day and I pointed them out to my dad because he's diabetic and I thought that maybe this was a product he could eat (because of the "light" label)...luckily my mom was there as well and said that those chips cause a laxative effect.

These chips remind me of the sugar-free mini reese's peanut butter cups. DO NOT EAT THIS EITHER. I had HALF of one serving (not half of the whole bag, I seriously mean half of one recommended serving) and spent the next couple of days in agony. I was running to the toilet, being on there for about an hour at a time at least, then leaving the bathroom, only to run back less than an hour later. To put it as nicely as possible, the candies caused so much of a laxative effect that my :moonpie: ended up bleeding. >.< As a joke, I told my mom that we should give them out on Halloween to the mean neighbors. :lol: I would never do that but the thought was sure entertaining!

[Vegankat]

Eh, as a (former) abuser of laxatives, food with a laxative effect doesn't phase me. Better still, it doesn't have that effect on me. I don't like the light chips, though, but I do love my sugar-free candy.

[kraftykraft]

Ooooh Olestra is evil. About six years ago, i had some WOW! chips for dinner and developed such bad stomach cramps that I almost had to go to the emergency room. as it was, all I could do is lay on the bathroom floor and wish I were dead. Now I avoid it like the plague. I can't believe that they are still using it!!

[a_turncoat]

They're probably going to use it more now, actually. The FDA recently ruled that products containing Olestra didn't have to warn the consumer.

And yes, Canada has banned Olestra. They are much more strict with food additives, i guess.

Even if you didn't experience stomach or bowel problems, you didn't absorb any fat-soluble vitamins. I, personally, have had the Light potato chips in my past and never experienced any problems.

[Thalia]

I like it. It never gives me bathroom problems, and I make sure not to eat it with anything nutritious (because it can take fat soluable vitamins out your butt with it).

[ynaffit]

Even if you didn't experience stomach or bowel problems, you didn't absorb any fat-soluble vitamins.
i don't think potato chips have much in the way of fat soluble vitamins. there are lots of things in food that inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients. it's not like if you eat a snack-size bag of chips one morning you're not going to absorb any fat-soluble vitamins all week.