87: A Brutal Attack on a Lawyer & Olestra

Jennifer Morey Caldwell was a cautious person. So when she picked out her apartment complex, she chose the Bayou Park Apartments. She was a young lawyer living alone in Houston, Texas, so she was drawn to the complex’s 24-hour security. The apartment complex was protected by Pinkerton Security. She’d heard of them. Surely they’d keep her safe. 

Then, Kristin wraps things up with the explosive story of Olestra. Those of us who lived through the 90’s remember Frito-Lay’s Wow brand of chips. They were made using the chemical Olestra, which worked as a fat substitute. It was amazing! The chips tasted great! They had hardly any fat! There was just one tiny problem. They caused anal leakage.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“Nutrition group seeks warning labels for olestra,” by Bruce Mohl for The Boston Globe
“Frito-Lay agrees to label fake fat Olestra more clearly on its “Light” chips,” article by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
Notice of intent to sue from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to Frito-Lay
“Frito-Lay target of Olestra lawsuit,” article by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
“Olestra: A Leaky History,” portablepress.com
“FDA says Proctor & Gamble free to use fake fat,” medicinenet.com
“Frito-Lay’s Wow chips hit Hoosiers hard,” press release by the Center for Science in the Public Interest

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“False Sense of Security” by Steve McVicker, Houston Press
“Jennifer/Sampson/Norina” episode I Survived