Olestra: a new food additive.

In 1987, Procter and Gamble Company (Cincinnati, Ohio) petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to amend the food additive regulations to allow sucrose esterified with fatty acids (olestra) to be used as a replacement for conventional fats. The petitioner later restricted its request for use in savory snacks. FDA considered evidence submitted by the petitioner, the opinions of experts, proceedings from the FDA Food Advisory Committee, and public discussion and concluded on January 25, 1996, that olestra was safe for use in savory snacks (eg, salty snacks such as potato chips, corn chips). Olestra is not toxic, carcinogenic, genotoxic, or teratogenic and is neither absorbed nor metabolized by the body, but may be associated with gastrointestinal tract symptoms such as cramping or loose stools. In addition, olestra affects the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins but does not affect the absorption of water-soluble nutrients. The petitioner's studies concluded that when olestra was consumed with foods containing vitamins A, D, E, or K, the fat substitute could have an effect on the absorption of these nutrients. Therefore, FDA is requiring that fat-soluble vitamins lost through absorption be added back to olestra as follows: 170 IU vitamin A per gram olestra, 12 IU vitamin D per gram olestra, 2.8 IU vitamin E per gram olestra, and 8 micrograms vitamin K per gram olestra. As part of the conditions of approval FDA is requiring that the food labels of products containing olestra disclose the vitamin compensation and the potential gastrointestinal effects. FDA is also requiring that further studies examining consumption patterns and the effects of olestra on human beings be conducted.

Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) and HIV infection in Togo.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HIV in a group of 150 patients with PFP and to study the semiological and evolutive aspect of PFP in patients with or without HIV. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This semilongitudinal study was conducted during 6 years (1990-1995) at the Lomé teaching hospital. Patients consulting for PFP had the HIV test and regular controls. RESULTS: The HIV seroprevalence was 52%. The average age was 31.4+/-8.81 years There was no difference on clinical features between patients with or without HIV infection. Cerebrospinal fluid was normal in patients without HIV infection, but it showed pleiocytosis in patients with HIV infection (87.88%). Of the HIV carriers 14% presented a recurrence. A total of 26.32% of the patients screened in 1990 developed AIDS when followed up. CONCLUSION: Peripheral facial paralysis is frequently associated to HIV infection. An HIV test must be proposed to all patients with PFP in Africa.