FAT-FREE FAT?

"Corporate food giants seem determined to turn what used to be the temples of our bodies into way stations for chemical residue." DAVE CAMPBELL Portland, Oregon

THE SYNTHETIC OIL CALLED OLESTRA may be the Holy Grail of fat substitutes [HEALTH, Jan. 8], but to suggest that its introduction will have an impact on the health of Americans is naive. It is not the fat in the food we eat that is necessarily the cause of our maladies; it is our life-style and our attitude toward food and eating. The answer is not to take the fat out of the fatty foods we eat but to take the fat out of our diets by selecting naturally low-fat foods and then to get off the sofa and start practicing self-control! CHRISTOPHER S. ROBINSON Seaside, California Via E-mail

I BELIEVE THAT THE FDA SHOULD GIVE THE O.K. for olestra-based foods to be sold to the public. Sure, olestra has its downside, but nobody is forcing people to buy and consume it. If they are aware of the side effects and still want it, then why not give it to them? STEPHANIE WILSHIRE Jax, North Carolina Via E-mail

I SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE constantly choose the synthetic alternative over the natural substance, be it margarine, aspartame or olestra. Why don't we forget the fake alternatives and deal with the real issue: we can eat and enjoy things that are natural and taste good and still be healthy, but we must do it in moderation. What's next? A synthetic alternative to living? KRISTIN DITTMAN Washington Via E-mail

PERHAPS SOME OBSESSIVE PEOPLE WILL simply eat more potato chips if they are fat-free and will still gain weight. But most people will surely substitute the new olestra chips for the old high-fat kind. In any case, let consumers, not the utopian food police at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, make the decision. Over time olestra will contribute to saving many lives that otherwise might be lost due to heart disease and excess weight. BRUCE CHAPMAN, President Discovery Institute Seattle

YOU CALLED THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN the Public Interest a Ralph Nader organization. In fact, the center has always been an independent body. MICHAEL F. JACOBSON, Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest Washington

THE WORLD NEEDS FAT-FREE FAT LIKE IT needs nicotine-free cigarettes! SYDNEY MARKEL Ottawa

AS LIVING HUMAN ORGANISMS, WE depend on hundreds of delicate chemical processes. If you alter the chemicals entering these processes, you alter the processes and you alter the humans, particularly their brains and nervous systems. We need a pure food supply, free of dyes, preservatives, flavor enhancers, antibiotics, hormones, synthetic vitamins and, it now seems, synthetic fats. ELAINE LANSDOWN Northport, New York Via E-mail

OLESTRA! A FEW DRAWBACKS--ANAL LEAKage, flatulence? Hey, I like potato chips as much as anyone, but not if I have to wear diapers! Pass the Tostitos! ROGER C. BURTON Houston

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