10 of History's Greatest Flops

You don’t have to be a consumer expert to know any product that might cause anal leakage is facing an uphill battle to success. In 1996, Proctor & Gamble gained FDA approval of olestra, a proprietary “fake fat” that couldn’t be absorbed by the human body. The development, which took the company more than 25 years to create and get approved, debuted to much fanfare. In 1998, P&G began making its Pringles with olestra and also sold the additive to other food manufacturers that began rolling out products made with it. PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay subsidiary branded them Wow chips, and finally, people could devour all the Ruffles and Doritos they wanted without fear of an expanding waistline.

Instead, what reportedly expanded were their colons. Because olestra isn’t digestible, it passes through the intestinal tract with alarming speed. The food companies were inundated with consumer complaints, and the FDA required a label be placed on each package warning that the “product may cause cramping and loose stools.”

Sales of the fat-free chips were initially promising. But within two years, profits declined and use of olestra in food products slowed to a dribble. The FDA removed the warning label in 2003 after a blind study showed that the ingredient does not cause more intestinal problems than other processed foods, but that didn’t save it in the end. Wow was rebranded in 2004 as “Light” for Frito-Lay products, but wasn’t discontinued until 2016. Olestra is still FDA approved today, although you’ll be hard pressed to find a product containing it. 

Olestra is just one of several historical flops, failures, and misses that host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy is recalling with very little fondness on the latest episode of The List Show. Watch the full episode above, and don’t forget to subscribe to Mental Floss on YouTube for new videos every week. Let’s get started.

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