FAKE FAT ... REAL DEBATE\Olestra not a diet dream, some claim.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

It sounds like a food that came straight from dieters heaven: a potato chip, every bit as greasy as the kind in the average vending machine, only it's fat free.

That's because this chip is made with olestra, a controversial fat substitute developed by Procter & Gamble Co. and approved Jan. 24 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Unlike other fat replacers, this is the first that withstands high temperatures and can be used to fry foods. The first products using olestra, which will be marketed with the brand name Olean, will be in grocery stores in a few months.

If Americans develop a taste for olestra, it eventually might be used in such things as ice cream and cookies, although the FDA's approval is limited to salty snacks.

"Excess fat is very well documented to cause very serious chronic disease, obesity, cancers, and coronary heart disease," said Greg Allgood, a senior Procter & Gamble scientist. "That's what olestra will fight."

But some nutritionists caution that the product is not a cure-all for the one in three Americans who are overweight. Many processed, fat-free foods such as cookies and cakes are high in calories and sugar, and consumers are duped into believing they can eat unlimited amounts.

"The truth is, too many calories of anything can cause weight gain," said Janet Lepke, a dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

Dr. Dean Ornish, the Sausalito, Calif.-based author of "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" and "Eat More, Not Less," warned olestra actually may have the effect of perpetuating a taste for fatty foods.

"Fat is an acquired taste," said Ornish, who advocates a diet heavy on whole grains, fruits and vegetables. "People will ultimately consume more real fat, instead of just switching to a lower-fat diet. Paradoxically, olestra makes it more difficult to adhere to a low-fat diet."

Then, there are concerns that olestra depletes the body of vitamins A, E, D and K by absorbing them. The FDA, as a result, has required Procter & Gamble to fortify olestra with those vitamins.

Yet nutritionists say the product still robs the body of carotenoids, nutrients found in such foods as carrots and spinach that scientists believe help prevent cancer and other diseases. The FDA has not required the products to be fortified with carotenoids, because there is disagreement over their role.

The fat replacer can make users pay in another way.

Olestra, made of sugar and vegetable oil, has the same feel and effect in cooking as ordinary fat. But olestra's molecules are combined in a way that prohibits the body's digestive enzymes from working. This means olestra passes through without adding calories or artery-clogging fat.

However, it acts something like mineral oil in the digestive system and can cause diarrhea, bloating and gas. In one study, some people noticed an oily stain in their underwear.

Procter & Gamble says it has changed the formula to reduce the digestive problems, but the FDA is requiring that olestra-made products carry a warning label that reads something like this: "Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stool. Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients."

But company officials, who invested almost 30 years and $250 million into developing the product, dismiss such concerns.

"It's not a warning label, it's an information label," said Sydney McHugh, a company spokeswoman.

Company researchers say olestra is safe, and the potential benefits from reducing fat in Americans' diets will far outweight any side effects of the product.

"If there were questions about its safety, the FDA never would have approved it," said Allgood, the Procter & Gamble scientist. (The FDA's vote was split 15 to 5 in favor of approving olestra.)

Allgood said critics of the product have misrepresented the gastric fatroubles caused by olestra.

"What our critics have done is they've looked at very artificial, exaggerated, laboratory studies where we stuffed people full of olestra every meal," he said.

Rather than argue the pros and cons of olestra, nutritionists would rather tout old-fashioned solutions to achieve effective weight loss.

"The best way to be healthy is to follow a low-fat diet, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and get regular exercise," said Lepke of the American Heart Association. "Olestra is just one more thing for us to focus on as a quick fix for our high-fat diets, when the most important thing is consistency and healthy living. The occasional bag of potato chips is not the problem. The problem is our high-fat diet in totality."

Indeed. Although Americans have reduced the percentage of calories they derived from fat from 40 percent in 1977-78 to 33 percent in 1994, it still is above the recommended 30 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

What's more, our appetite for snack foods is voracious and growing. Americans eat about 22 pounds per capita of salty snack foods a year, up from 17.5 pounds in 1988, according to snack industry figures.

Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University and a member of the medical advisory board that recommended approval of olestra to the FDA, stressed that moderation is the key to healthful eating.

"What this is saying, more than anything, is don't overdo anything," Kris-Etherton said. "I think you can include some Olean safely in your diet, but I wouldn't go out and tell anybody to eat three bags of chips with Olean, just like I wouldn't tell anybody to eat three bags of regular chips."

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Photo (1--Cover--Color) Betcha can't eat just one... And that worries nutritionists, who believe fat replacers shouldn't be seen as a green light for gorging (2) Procter & Gamble says its vitamin-fortified olestra, used in the production of reduced-fat potato chips, is afa safe form of fake fat, but critics claim it acts like mineral oil in the digestive system.