Makeover 3: The Olestra Ostracision

This is one fine example of how sometimes, research does not pay.

30 years ago, Proctor & Gamble developed a substance by the name of Olestra. Originally filed with the US Food and Drug Administration as a drug to lower cholesterol levels, the FDA rejected P&G's petition due to skeptical test results. The conglomerate then tried to get Olestra approved as a food additive, which they claimed, is an excellent fat substitute.

In 1998, two years after the FDA approved the use of Olestra, sales of Frito Lay's potato chips (a subsidiary of P&G) hit US$400 million. Consumers were "WOWed" by the promise of fat-free chips and guilt-free enjoyment. However, just two years later, sales slid by 50% to a dismal $200 million.

The cause - a health warning label on the packaging:

"This Product Contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools. Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients."

Now, if that didn't scare customers away, I have no idea what will.

Of course, as things go in the US, the FDA removed the label in 2003, explaining that consumers no longer need protection as they all know the effects of Olestra by now. I was never a fan of big-money US politics, but when a an ingredient can cause anal leakage and inhibition of vitamin absorption, it HAS to raise a few eyebrows.

And it did. More than 20,000 hungry people had complained to the FDA about olestra-related adverse reactions, even after Frito-Lay rebranded them as Lay's Light potato chips.

Now, I'm not a supporter of potato chips, but for all my fans out there (don't deny it!), here's a perfect alternative.

Solea Olive Oil Potato Chips

These chips are branded as having 30% less fat than regular potato chips, as they are lightly cooked in olive oil. They claim to use pure all-nature seasonings, and with flavours like Parmesan and Cracked Pepper & Salt, it was tough not doing my usual food hunt.

So I hunted. And found these!



They taste wonderful, with a distinct peppery taste while not being too salty. The chips are crunchier than usual, and each pack a punch. No wonder, And no Olestra, so you don't have to worry about bowel problems and insufficient vitamins!

Solea Olive Oil Potato Chips
Available at: NTUC Toa Payoh HDB Hub
Price: $5.20 for 134g

Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Nutritional Value: 4/5
Makeover Success: 4/5

Makeover 2: The Nitrate Negation

The more I research on harmful ingredients, the harder it gets to accept the truth.

This has to rank as one of the toughest ever - nitrates.

A seemingly innocuous substance, I could not believe my eyes when I read that the common table salt, known as sodium nitrate, had the potential to transform into a cancer-causing chemical. And the next hard-hitting truth: they are found mainly in packaged sausages.

Now, if my favourite foods were ranked like the English Premier League, sausages will be the equivalent of Manchester United: consistent, satisfying, simply out of this world.

But nitrates ruined the whole picture. They are actually harmless on their own, but when combined with chemicals in the stomach, form nitrosamines, a powerful carcinogenic substance. They are apparently so harmful that the United States Department of Agriculture ruled that fresh sausages contain no nitrates. However, they are allowed as preservatives in packaged sausages, and that worries me. Badly.

The problem is, ever since I tasted Master Butchery's excellent sausages, I have never envisioned myself quitting them.

But I had to face the problem.

And well, it wasn't that bad after all. Nitrite salt sounded like the least worrying of all ingredients. Sodium lactate, phosphate, and ISP. ISP? What on earth could that be? Other than MSG, any ingredient whose name is in the form of acronym sounds fishy, dangerous even.

So Master Butchery goes into the dustbin, and I'm off to find a new soulmate. A search on the net for sausage alternatives brought to my attention a few communities and websites that were devoted to putting a stop to unhealthy meats by introducing recipes where one can come up homemade sausages. After looking through a few, I decided on the Italian Fennel Pork Sausage.

It sounded like the easiest of the lot, with few ingredients that are readily available. Obviously, I couldn't get my hands on two skinned, boned and chunky Boston pork butts, and thus settled for air-flown minced pork from the friendly supermarket.

Ah, fennel seeds. My first encounter with them were Tortino's delightful Sausage Party Pizzas. The Italian spices packed a punch with its distinctive taste, so it was a pleasant surprise to find them in this recipe. Other than being a flavourful addition to any Western meal, they help to protect against cancer! Take that, nitrites!

I decided to add a creative touch. Instead of sausages, the meat mixture will be turned into patties. And what are patties without burger buns? But here's the interesting alternative: Focaccia bread!

Healthy (no trans fats), flavourful (with more than 4 spices) and absolutely delicious, it is the perfect companion for homemade Italian patties.

Preparation was relatively hassle free. Mix all the ingredients together with the pork and leave it overnight in the fridge. Lifting up the PVC food wrap the next day produced a pleasant treat. If Famous Amos can proudly proclaim "Free Smells" for their cookies, Prodigy Benjy can do the same too for his meat patties. An intricate concoction of smells ranging from the strong fennel seeds to the spicy black pepper teased the senses.

In the short history of my cooking years, this has to rank among the most satisfying meals. Every bite packed a punch. The rich taste of fennel seeds and black pepper, combined with the pork juices forms a truly unique experience.

After two mouthfuls, my girlfriend quipped, "Wah, this is better than Botak Jones."

Indeed, and without the cancer-causing nitrates!

Benjy's Italian Fennel Focaccia Sandwich
Taste: 5/5
Out of this world.

Value: 5/5
After calculations, each sandwich costs $2.50. Try getting something anywhere else for that price.

Nutritional Value: 4/5
We need more vegetables the next time round!

Makeover Success: 5/5
One less processed food in the house, one more tasty recipe in the library.

Makeover 1: The Trans Fats Transformation

The classification of fats sounds prety much like Star Wars.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats come under "good fats", while saturated and trans fats make up the "bad fats" (think Jabba the Hut).

While light consumption of saturated fats are widely accepted by nutritionists, the intake of trans fats is considered a strict no-no. Technical explanations aside, trans fats increases the "bad cholesterol", decreases "good cholesterol" in the body, and causes major clogging in the arteries, thus greatly multiplying the risk of contracting heart disease.

If the impact of trans fats is so severe, why are foodmakers still putting them into potato chips and cookies? A major source of trans fats are hydrogenated oils such as vegetable shortenings, and the addition of these ingredients into food products helps to extend their shelf lives.

According to the World Health Organisation, intake of trans fats should be limited to less than 1% of our daily nutrition intake. Based on a 2000 kilo calorie diet, that translates to roughly 2 grams, which by pure coincidence is the amount of heroin you can possess to be charged with drug trafficking.

With the death penalty (of heart disease) in mind, I sought out the first offender I could find in the kitchen.

The defendant takes his stand...

A closer inspection of the ingredients reveals the culprit.

A look at the nutrition panel.

I absolutely adore Julie's delicious peanut butter biscuits, but the listing of vegetable shortening as the second ingredient right after wheat flour and BEFORE peanut butter does sound rather worrying.

No offense to your baking skills Julie, but the biscuits are going down the trashbin.

I needed an alternative snack. Being a lover of cream-filled biscuits, the shoes were hard to fill. But my girlfriend came up with a mouth-watering idea:

And when the powers combine:

Not a particularly imaginative piece, but you get the idea. With that in mind, I had to check out the actual products and what they exactly they contain.

Of all the cream crackers in the market, Hup Seng boasts the most fragrant and cripiest ones around. But the presence of vegetable shortening grants them auto-elimination, and upon further inspection, Jacob's Cream Crackers emerge tops in terms of nutritional value.

The bottle of Smucker's Strawberry Preserves not only feel good in the hand and had a reasonable price to go along. Best of all, it's sugar-free (and trans fats free!).

When one thinks of cheese spread, Philly's is the first, and usually the only, brand that comes to mind. To my delight, I found a reduced salt version in Philadelphia Light - all the creaminess of Philly's still intact with 80% less salt. Splendid.

The cost of the three items adds up to about $11, which will not be the cheapest snacks you can find around. But the taste was heavenly. The cream cheese and strawberry preserve form an intricate mix of sweet, sour and salty variations, while the cream crackers fuses the flavours together with a satisfying crispiness.

Eunice's Strawberry and Cheese Sandwiches
Taste: 5/5
Value: 3/5
Nutritional Value: 4/5
Makeover Success: 4/5

All hands on deck!

With the increasing scrutiny the world is looking at food composition and ingredients, with buzzwords ranging from high fructose corn syrup to brominated vegetable oil to olestra, it was only a matter of time before I started looking at nutrition panels, while worrying about hydrogenated oils and artificial colourings.

This marks the start of my journey through the refrigerator, snack tins and food cabinets. Each entry will focus on a specific harmful food ingredient, and the hopeful attempt to replace the poisonous artefact with an equally (if not more) tasty alternative with all the bad stuff cut out.

Ahoy!