# Olestra dangerous? Fry Your Potatoes in Petroleum Jelly! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543 "2011-01-30T20:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/1 "2011-01-30T20:26:54Z")
Olestra seems to be a flop. It was a good idea (a non-digestible fat), that you could eat, which would not result in weight gain. I guess Olestra had a lot of nasty side effects. My question: suppose you fried your food in non-toxic petroleum jelly? This would not be digested, and (as far as I know) petroleum jelly never poisoned anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/2 "2011-01-30T20:35:05Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Olestra seems to be a flop. It was a good idea (a non-digestible fat), that you could eat, which would not result in weight gain. > I guess Olestra had a lot of nasty side effects. If you discount the exceedingly rare effect of penis ensuing, the main side effect seems to have been massive, oily diarrhea. It seems fairly obvious that this will happen _whenever_ you fill your gut with an insoluble grease: It’s going to be slick, it has to come out, and there’s really only one exit. I don’t see how petroleum jelly (or other rock-oil-based concoction) would be less prone to that then Olestra is. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/3 "2011-01-30T20:37:34Z")
It’s a petroleum product(hence the name). You do NOT want it near a heat source. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/4 "2011-01-30T20:39:10Z")
I read somewhere how women used to make “diet” mayonnaise using mineral oil. I read it in an article about the then new Olestra. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/5 "2011-01-30T20:50:53Z")
Boiling point: 302°C (575 F) Melting point: 36-60°C (96-140 F} Flash point: 182-221°C ( 359-429 F) typical food frying temps are in this range. Auto-ignition temperature: \>290°C (554 F) [From here.](http://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics1440.htm) Not to mention the fact that it just sounds plain nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/6 "2011-01-30T22:47:42Z")
Olestra’s formula was slightly adjusted in the early 2000s, eliminating the bowel leakage side effects. It is currently used in easily findable supermarket products, like Lay’s Light and Pringle’s Light chips. Of course, looking up the facts before you post would eliminate a lot of threads here. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/7 "2011-01-30T22:54:07Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > If you discount the exceedingly rare effect of penis ensuing, … If you eat Olestra, penises will ensue? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/8 "2011-01-30T23:34:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Olestra’s formula was slightly adjusted in the early 2000s, eliminating the bowel leakage side effects. It is currently used in easily findable supermarket products, like Lay’s Light and Pringle’s Light chips. > > Of course, looking up the facts before you post would eliminate a lot of threads here. I ate Olestra during the original run, as well as a few times in the recent run, and never had any such problems. Tastewise, the stuff’s pretty good - almost indistinguishable from the regular stuff. In fact, I actually like Lay’s Light better than the originals, since they taste a little less greasy to me. That said, I’ve stopped eating Olestra due to other possible health concerns. I was Googling around on a while ago, and it seemed like quite a few folks have raised some concerns, the research seems underdone, and I find it easy enough just to not eat chips rather than eat creepy synthetic chips. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/9 "2011-01-30T23:54:57Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I read somewhere how women used to make “diet” mayonnaise using mineral oil. I read it in an article about the then new Olestra. Mmmmm, yummy. Of course, mineral oil is sold in every drug store in America as a laxative. It’s perfectly safe, but it still comes back to the fact that too much indigestible fat is going to cause issues. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/10 "2011-01-31T01:30:01Z")
I’ve seen recipes in 100 year old cook books that mention mineral oil in bakery products instead of lard or vegetable oils. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-dangerous-fry-your-potatoes-in-petroleum-jelly/569543/11 "2011-01-31T02:29:16Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > If you eat Olestra, penises will ensue? [The infamous typo.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5674741&postcount=2) :eek: :smack: