Olestra

Olestra

Top: Generic 2D structure of olestra, where R = H or fatty acid group, C(O)CnHm Bottom: Stereoscopic animation of a representative olestra molecule with 8 unsaturated fatty acid groups
Clinical data
Trade names	Olean
Legal status
Legal status	US: OTC
Identifiers
ChemSpider	none
UNII	6742Y30KGK
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID2021078
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C n+12H 2n+22O 13 (where fatty acids are saturated)
Molar mass	Variable
NY (what is this?)

Olestra (also known by its brand name Olean) is a fat substitute that adds no metabolizable calories to products. It has been used in the preparation of otherwise high-fat foods, thereby lowering or eliminating their fat content. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally approved olestra for use in the US as a replacement for fats and oils in prepackaged ready-to-eat snacks in 1996,^[1] concluding that such use "meets the safety standard for food additives, reasonable certainty of no harm".^[2]: 46399 In the late 2000s, olestra lost its popularity due to supposed side effects and has been largely phased out, but products containing the ingredient can still be purchased at grocery stores in some countries.^{[citation needed]} As of 2024, no products using olestra are sold in the United States.