Olestra | The Miracle Fat Substitute That Became a Pop-Culture Punchline

Overview

During the low-fat fad of the 1990s, Procter & Gamble believed it had attained the holy grail of low-fat yet flavorful snacks. P&G's fat substitute olestra was rebranded "Olean", and licensed to food manufacturers for use in chips and cookies. Unfortunately, for many consumers, olestra's side effects included nausea, flatulence, diarrhea, and what will forever go down in history as "anal leakage."