Olestra!

I think its bad that FDA cannot mandate studies done on food additives by independent third parties. It seems that if they petitioners have the burden of proof, the proof might be a little bias. It's interesting how Olestra slipped through the cracks, unlike psyllium and artificial sweetners. It fits right into the food industries ideas about "EAT MORE" with its aim being to enable people to eat more of the top of the pyramid snacks and discretionary calories. I definitely remember when Olestra was at its height, I don't think I ate it very much, my mom was really against eating those kinds of snack foods that would contain them anyways. I probably did have some in restaurants though. Its just fascinating (in a bad way), how excited food companies get that they can use health claims to advertise their products. It's kind of a sad state of affairs when people all over have such chronic diseases that this is a useful marketing tool.
The fact about using Olestra to reduce symptoms of dioxin poisoning was fascinating! However, that clearly isn't what you want to happen to most people (clear out all fat soluble substances) and makes Olestra appear way too intense to be a GRAS additive (sounds almost more like a drug if they can use it on dioxin poisoning).
I think its fascinating how much energy we devoted to this low fat diet craze of late. We really know so little about it and very little has proved to significantly enhance lipid profiles of people or reduce risk of heart disease. I think, as Olestra may show, that the low fat diet craze just caused people to eat more refined carbohydrates and this may have led to the obesity spikes. This sums up the problem to me, the quote she includes from an Olestra "user" (interesting choice of words i thought...): "I love olestra. It means I get to eat potato chips--the whole bag."
I whole-heartedly agree with Nestle when she says: No functional foods can ever replace the full range of nutrients and phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables and grains..."