# Olestra? Why not improved and rebranded? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270 "2026-03-06T23:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/1 "2026-03-06T23:42:32Z")
For decades, chemists struggled to find something that would duplicate the functions of fat in food without the calories. Food fried in fat is often tasty, with good “mouthfeel”, etc. When Olestra™ came out in the US, I used to drive across the border from Canada to load up on guilt-free Pringles. I never ate olestra in quantity and had no problems with digestion or dumping. You know what happened. People ate it by the sackful. If you don’t absorb fat it ends up in your stool - steatorrhea makes feces float and smell more unpleasant. Critics coined an unpleasant term that implied a loss of control over movements. When that term caught on, Olestra disappeared. But why? Olestra functioned _as you would expect it to_. Presumably, you could easily add more fiber or other things to the food to minimize symptoms - which could be another nutritional plus. Lots of sugar alcohols cause similar gut changes. One would expect the companies that did these decades of expensive research to make improvements, then release it under a different name unsoiled in the public eye. So why didn’t this happen? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/2 "2026-03-07T00:17:16Z")
Three words: Explosive projectile flatulence. Also, didn’t the trend of demonizing fat start ebbing around that time as well, ya know, the whole “your body needs fat” thing? IIRC people ate a lot of “fat free” shit thinking it would be healthier, and ended up still being overweight, and wondering WTF? Essentially, the trend away from “fat-free” also meant less interest in fat-less alternatives? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/3 "2026-03-07T02:32:39Z")
Sure. But I never experienced anything melodramatic. Am not surprised given the mechanism. And don’t believe this couldn’t be mitigated even if you needed a different name. The point about “peak fat” is interesting, though. People still say this about olive and avocado, of course. It depends what you are eating. Most of the fat in chips is not saturated, the calories are worse than the fat if you eat them in quantity. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/4 "2026-03-07T15:13:52Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Explosive projectile flatulence This makes no sense to me. What, exactly, is the projectile here? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/6 "2026-03-07T15:32:18Z")
> [@norma1](#): > > I think the reputation damage was just too strong—once the public associates a product with those side effects, it’s really hard to recover even with improvements. Once a product has a negative association whatever that may be it is doomed. My mind hearkens back to the demise of the diet candy, AYDS, that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/7 "2026-03-07T16:27:30Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > When that term caught on, Olestra disappeared. It didn’t just disappear, it was banned in some areas. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > One would expect the companies that did these decades of expensive research to make improvements, then release it under a different name unsoiled in the public eye. They did exactly that. It was rebranded as Sefose, an industrial lubricant. [https://chemistryforsustainability.org/safer-alternatives/chempolr-mps-resins-and-sefoser-sucrose-esters-low-vocs-alkyd-paints-and](https://chemistryforsustainability.org/safer-alternatives/chempolr-mps-resins-and-sefoser-sucrose-esters-low-vocs-alkyd-paints-and) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/8 "2026-03-07T16:37:59Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > Explosive projectile flatulence > > This makes no sense to me. What, exactly, is the projectile here? I believe the scientific term is “shart”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/9 "2026-03-07T16:47:13Z")
> [@norma1](#): > > I think the reputation damage was just too strong—once the public associates a product with those side effects, it’s really hard to recover even with improvements. This, exactly. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > One would expect the companies that did these decades of expensive research to make improvements, then release it under a different name unsoiled in the public eye. So why didn’t this happen? Even if they tried this, the fact that it’s just a renamed Olestra would rapidly become known, especially in an era of ubiquitous social media. There’d have to be some legal filings around the new trade name for it, and it would still appear on the list of ingredients. Company: “We this new fat substitute that won’t make you gain weight!” Consumers: “Wait…that sounds a lot like that old ‘anal leakage’ stuff…” ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/10 "2026-03-07T20:42:01Z")
Dietary fat is no longer the boogeyman it once was. We’re not quite to the point of ‘There’s a pill for that now,’ but shifting public opinion means not many people will make the compromise. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/11 "2026-03-07T20:45:36Z")
I wonder if the original purveyors would have been better off using Olestra to replace _some_ of the fat. You think it would have been studied and tested for years before making its explosive debut. That said, I am willing to blame some of it on hysteria and unfortunate words; I never noticed anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/12 "2026-03-08T01:14:49Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > > > Explosive projectile flatulence > > > > This makes no sense to me. What, exactly, is the projectile here? > > I believe the scientific term is “shart”. Ah, but then it would be explosive projectile _diarrhea_, which would make sense. Flatulence is just gas. No projectile. mmm ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/13 "2026-03-08T02:03:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@norma1](#): > > > > I think the reputation damage was just too strong—once the public associates a product with those side effects, it’s really hard to recover even with improvements. > > This, exactly. The ads just write themselves: > New, Improved Olestra II ! > Now with less sharting! Eh, never mind. This one’s a bust. I guess we could say it shit the bed. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/14 "2026-03-08T02:04:34Z")
I’m doubtful that there’s a significant way to mitigate olestra’s side effects other than reducing/discontinuing intake. Fiber doesn’t do it, according to the literature, and my own experiences with patients and my own kid’s steatorrhea from CF. In fact it tended to make it even more explosive with even more urgency. And Olestra’s own manufacturers recommend symptom mitigation by reducing the amount of their product that one consumes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/15 "2026-03-08T02:33:15Z")
The fact remains there are lots of food ingredients out there that cause digestive issues in excess. Sorbitol comes to mind. Whatever it is in Jerusalem artichokes (inulin?) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/16 "2026-03-08T02:38:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The fact remains there are lots of food ingredients out there that cause digestive issues in excess. Sorbitol comes to mind. Indeed. Sorbitol and other “sugar alcohols” are popular in sugar-free foods (candies, cookies, etc.), but are also famous (infamous) for their laxative effects. I developed diabetes 20 years ago, and had to cut out sugary stuff from my diet; it wasn’t too long after that that I discovered just what a number even a fairly small amount of sorbitol does on my gut. The Amazon reviews on Haribo’s sugar-free gummi bears became legendary, for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/17 "2026-03-08T02:41:23Z")
Heck, coffee & cream in quantity, together or separately, can raise a ruckus. Neither are considered “weird science”. Unlike e.g. 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:** [March 8, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/18 "2026-03-08T17:05:05Z")
A blast from the past. (something ensues) [Wow! A kind warning to Olestra-phobes! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-a-kind-warning-to-olestra-phobes/282805) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/19 "2026-03-08T17:24:54Z")
Man was that a stroll down memory lane. And a true classic. Sigh. A lot of names we’ve not seen nor heard in a long time … a long time. 20-1/2 years ago that was. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/20 "2026-03-08T17:52:44Z")
Wow, and the supervillain origin story of “penis ensues”. I had wondered… ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olestra-why-not-improved-and-rebranded/1028270/21 "2026-03-08T18:14:51Z")
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