Safety
Few concerns have been raised about the safety of fat substitutes. Carrageennan, olestra, and polydextrose have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as food additives, a title which requires both intensive testing over a wide demographic and the ability to meet strict, pre-determined, FDA criteria. Other products, such as guar gum and maltodextrose, are "Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)" by the FDA; this is also based on scientific testing and long-term consumption by a variety of consumer demographics. With excessive use, polydextrose can have a laxative effect, and olestra may cause loss of fat-soluble vitamins in the form of fatty stools. At this time, there is little supporting evidence to accompany claims that these, or other fat substitutes, are hazardous; however, more long-term research is needed.
Read more about this topic: Fat Substitute
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“Perhaps having built a barricade when you’re sixteen provides you with a sort of safety rail. If you’ve once taken part in building one, even inadvertently, doesn’t its usually latent image reappear like a warning signal whenever you’re tempted to join the police, or support any manifestation of Law and Order?”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“There is always safety in valor.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.... Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)