May 1997
Senator __________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Representative __________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear:
I urge you to ask the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider and withdraw its approval of olestra. Although olestra was approved by the FDA just over a year ago, it has already caused hundreds of consumers to suffer gastrointestinal problems.
On April 22, 1996, the test marketing of olestra began in three small towns with the introduction of Frito-Lay's Max chips. Later that year Procter & Gamble, the company that invented olestra, began test marketing Fat Free Pringles in Columbus, Ohio. Frito-Lay rolled out a new version of olestra chips, Wow chips, in Indianapolis, Indiana, in February 1997. A month later Procter & Gamble started selling olestra Pringles in Indiana. Finally, Nabisco has started selling olestra Ritz crackers and Wheat Thins in two small towns.
As a result of the test marketing, many consumers have suffered severe gastrointestinal problems. More than 1,200 citizens have called the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) to report everything from loose stools and severe diarrhea to painful adbominal cramping to stained underwear as a result of eating olestra snack foods. When people eat potato chips, they want to have a pleasurable snack. They don't expect to -- and should not -- suffer, regardless if a little notice is on the back of the label.
Olestra also robs the body of important nutrients called carotenoids (beta-carotene and others). According to the Harvard School of Public Health, carotenoids appear to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, and macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness in the elderly.
I urge you to ask the FDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to appoint a new review committee (not the same people who approved it last year) to examine the evidence of olestra's harmfulness that CSPI has provided. Furthermore, urge HHS to protect the public by banning the dangerous additive before olestra products are marketed nationwide.
Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of health care and nutrition. Please respond to this request.
Sincerely yours,
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