# Whatever happened to SIMPLESSE, the fat substitute?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 30, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898 "2002-03-30T08:24:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898/1 "2002-03-30T08:24:38Z")
Whatever happened to SIMPLESSE, the fat substitute? I remember there being a huge buildup for this stuff a number of years ago. Then it appeared in several products, including an ice cream style frozen desert which I really liked. Then it just disappeared. I don’t remember the kind of publicity about possible cancer or anything that surrounded sodium cyclamate and even saccharin. It just went away. Was FDA approval lifted, or was the stuff just too expensive? Anybody know?
“Hello, I must be going.” --Groucho Marx
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### Author:  [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898/2 "2002-03-30T08:25:47Z")
Wasn’t there something about “anal leakage”?
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### Author:  [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2002, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898/3 "2002-03-30T09:08:17Z")
naw, that was olean.
simplesse, i dunno. sounded like a great product at the time, especially compared to what olean turned out to do (anal leakage? yikes!)
perhaps we don’t hear about it much because it’s not for cooking (whereas most other fat substitues are) , or maybe because of the big backlash against olean.
btw, have you all heard of ‘Stellar’? i had not till i googled this topic. somethin new every day…
jb
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### Author:  [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898/4 "2002-03-30T14:10:59Z")
My xgf tried some simplesse ice cream once with her aunt, and said that it wasn’t a very convincing substitute.
My personal theory is that there is some component of fatty foods that is addictive in the same way that nicotine in cigarettes is addictive. Take that away, and you’re left with something that just isn’t very satisfying. Imagine how a nicotine-free cigarette would do on the market, even if it tasted just like a regular cigarette.
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### Author:  [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-simplesse-the-fat-substitute/100898/5 "2002-03-30T15:14:18Z")
lucwarm, you are exactly right. I remember when I was studying dietetics that we were taught this - that fat is key to satiety. Unfortunately, none of the fat substitutes has been able to provide this.