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I don't know.. I think you could replace the phrase "multitude of applications" with "multitude of effects". I mean, if it does that many things, God only knows how many brain swellings, bloody stools or flipper babies it will cause. How about we all just stop eating crap and quit looking for a great new way to allow ourselves to continue with a multitude of effects? Obviously, nobody is perfect, and its a constant struggle to watch what you eat.. but isn't that what makes life interesting?

better living through technology?
...notsomuch.
easier living through technology.
...maybe.

Fine...multitude of effects. But I will say here that i doubt there exists flipper babies & other complications due to the fact that it has been approved in multiple countries across the globe.
I don't think there's anything wrong with looking for a sugar substitute. I sure as hell wish this was in my cola right now. It'd be less calories and better on my teeth.
I think you misjudge my motivations. I don't want to be able to eat crap for the rest of my life. I don't think sugar is crap. Sugar is found in many foods. Going without sugar might be more healthy for you, but I'm not that much of a masochist. This seems like a good substitute that will lessen the bad effects of sugar on people, especially kids.

I kinda like the trade off.

You get to endulge your sweet tooth, but you may have a flipper baby waiting for you.

TONSTAFL!

so wait, you consider it a masochistic to go without excess sugar? seriously? Wow man, you really are spoiled by civilization. I'm not arguing that sugar itself is crap. I'm arguing that soda, so pumped full of sugar that it rots your face, is crap. I drink it too, but I don't know that its some sort of human right.

Also.. you seriously believe that because governments approve it, that means its safe? hello thalidomide.

I don't necessarily think this is evil really. .. I just don't think its as great as all that. I compare it to exciting news about gasoline that doesn't pollute a fraction of the amount that normal gas does. That's great... but driving a half ton of metal to the convenience store to get a pack of gum is still wasteful and pointless.

ok, I've gone into the stratosphere of comparisons... I blame it on the Jolt I just drank.

Graver, Colin didn't say it's masochistic to go without excess sugar, he said it's masochistic to go without sugar. I know it's fun to harass Colin, but I think you're off the mark on this one. I also think it's a lot easier to be confident about the safety of a teeny little sugar molecule as opposed to a nasty-how-is-possible sized Thalidomide molecule.

But I can understand why Colin's so excited about this; he won't have to look at so many revolting fat people if this catches on.

I agree with Wads 100% that it IS fun to harass Colin.

To the topic at hand though. The rationale that people should just watch what they eat and exercise because there could be effects caused by the trying to find a better or easier way seems puritan to me. If we can find a way for people to continue to enjoy things they like and be healthier at the same time, where is the problem? This discovery could be the next step in the learning progression towards that goal..It may not be 100% but it is a step in the right direction.

The main thing I got out of this story was: Buying stock in this company would probably be a good idea ;)

I have one word for you concerning slightly changed molecules that lead to partially undigestible food... "Olestra" It was damn near the same thing. Just regular fatty oils that got turned around a bit to make something the body didn't digest. Now that I have you thinking about that wonder of science here's four more words that I really read on a package of Olestra laden potato chips a few years ago... "sudden uncontrollable explosive diarrhea"

but then, it also doesn't make you fat if you pig out.

uncontrollable diarrhea ain't no flipper baby.

I've been ruminating about how I want to comment on this for a while now. I still don't have it right, but here's a start.

I'm a little curious about your reaction to this product, Chris. This is a food (admittedly a chemically modified one) that has been investigated and declared safe for consumption by not only the US but also by several other governments around the world. Obviously, that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be safe. Thalidomide, DDT, BHT, radium ... all products used with the blessing of the government in the past that turned out to be toxic/teratogenic/carcinogenic. No arguments. However, these chemicals were used/approved without sufficient study as to the potential negative impact they might have. That's a policy that has changed drastically in the intervening years since the epidemic of thalidomide-induced phocomelia babies.

As the article pointed out, D-sugars, while rare, do in fact occur in nature. We don't make them in our bodies, and we can't really absorb or metabolize them very well. But we comsume them all the time -- especially those of us who drink milk (which doesn't include me, becuase milk, unlike Olestra, does give me sudden and uncontrollable explosive diarrhea. Good for humor value, bad when you're sitting in lecture.) There's no evidence at all that D-sugars are toxic. Of course that may change if the dose is drastically increased, but that can be said about pretty much any food product, "natural" or otherwise.

But what if the USDA is wrong again? What if this is a tumor initiator or tumor promotor? Chances are that it will have a VERY weak effect. Way, way less than, for example, ciagarettes, alcohol, the sun, oxygen, hydrogen peroxide (which your immune cells make, BTW), etc. But the more important point here is that we know, for a fact, that obesity kills Americans. A lot of Americans. Heart disease, diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome X, vascular disease, further inactivity fostered by joint failure secondary to just luggin' too damn much weight around ... These kill a whole hell of a lot more people than a fairly throughly investigated food product has the potential to. In an ideal setting, people would adopt the Howard Stern "Stop Eating So Goddamned Much" diet plan, and this wouldn't be an issue. But in an ideal setting, Communism works, too. Given that the fatbodies of America (as well as lucky thin people with wasteful metabolisms) will continue to crave and eat sweet products, this is the type of product that has the potential to save a lot of lives.

And a pretty much unrelated jag about Olestra: I'm actually a big fan of Olestra. I think it's a case of designer food gone horribly horribly right. It doesn't actually cause GI problems in everybody, at least not at "reasonable" doses. I actually performed the dose-response experiment on myself over the course of a couple of weeks a few years ago, eating progressively larger quantites of "Wow!" chips, while giving myself a couple of days to return to baseline between the next delicious tortilla chip ingestion. I actually had no GI discomfort at all until I was eating an entire bag of chips myself in one sitting. And, let's be honest, if you eat that many chips, you probably deserve to get the trots. The real danger with Olean is that it sequesters Vitamin K in your gut and can, if eaten in large enough quantites for long enough, depelete your body's stores of Vit. K. This can lead to coagulopathies, as production of several enzymes in the clotting cascade is dependent on Vit. K. But all you have to do to counteract that is supplement the food with excess Vitamin K, and you're golden.

So bring on the Olean, but keep the milk the hell away from me.

I think I write too much.

On of the best posts I have read here... not that that says a whole hella of a lot but there ya go ;)

lets just say me and olestra... we had a disagreement.. perhaps more of a battle, that I narrowly won. It left an impression and made me question why its so important to go to such lengths to indulge yourself.

I obviously have no idea what the effects of this substance will be. My problem with it is the way products like this serve to enable wantonly wasteful and hedonistic behavior... In effect, alleviating the symptoms of a sick culture instead of curing it. I just don't know if its really such a great thing.

...and down with birth control! We shouldn't be wasting perfectly bodily fluids on our society's sick hedonistic desire to fuck!

Don't be such a food prude. Like E-Lo says, it'll save lives. So what if people get to enjoy a candy bar without worrying about blimping up? Technology that allows us to enjoy life without unintended consequences is a good thing, IMHO. There's nothing inherently superior about suffering. It's a great way to keep the masses satisfied under the yoke, but it ain't for me.

Whats up with this Gravy? You were the first person I know to try chaser to proactively allieviate a hang over... That stuff hasn't had anywwhere near the testing.

You been chillin' with Colin too much.Getting all tenacious.

G-raves, a "wantonly hedonistic and wasteful lifestyle"? Did you quit drinking? Smoking? Using other mood-enhancing/mind-altering stubstances? Begin eating either a low-fat or a low carb, high protein diet? Start riding your bike everywhere you go? Stop using air conditioning or, these days, central heating? Stop watching TV/listening to music (just think of all the wasted electrons/tons of coal)? Begin using computers only when necessary for your employment? Etc., etc., etc.

I'm not trying to bash you here. I certainly haven't done most of these things (except quit smoking -- 3 years as of Sept. 27th, rah rah), nor am I 1) willing to or 2) saying any of us _should_ do so. My only point is that we Americans pretty much all live wantonly hedonistic and wasteful lifestyles, so we shouldn't be too quick to judge those of us who choose sweetness as (one of) their overindulgence(s).

Shit, if somebody were to invent an EtOH replacement that gets me 98% as scandalously drunk with only 38% of the chance of CI cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, hypoglycemia, etc., I'd be the first one in line for it, and I bet you'ld be right behind me.

I really don't think this is an example of alleviating the symptoms of a sick culture. That's kind of like saying that desiging more and more fuel efficient cars is a bad idea, because it doesn't address the fact that we still drive. In an imaginary setting where the use of D-tagatose has replaced much of the use of normal sugar and the national average BMI dropped into a more healthy range, maybe the culture wouldn't be sick at all... just using a product better suited for the needs of the consumers.

Now I need to go kill some mice so that one day nobody will die of skin cancer.

Oh, and Keester, thanks.

You're totally right, being judgemental of those people who have those lifestyles isn't cool. I certainly am living it... although oddly, yes I sold my car, ride my bike everywhere, went on a low carb diet, quit smoking with limited success and kicked it down a few hundred notches on the mood-altering... but I still count myself as a hedonist. I also didn't think I was being judgemental of the actual people... I thought I was being judgemental of the culture and the glorification of this invention. I should think we'd all agree that being harshly judgemental of your OWN culture is not only acceptable but totally essential.

I never once said I hated fat people or thought they were weak willed.

I don't care if people gobble this shit like its mana from heaven. I just refuse to see it as some sort of miraculous cure for obesity. we already have one.... its called, "put that damn Big Mac down".

I was raised catholic and can't help the guilt-complex for indulgences... and was raised a cold-midwesterner so I can't help the stoic-puritan streak.... and am almost over 30, so I can't help the fact that I'm always sooooooo damn sagacious.

Wadsbone, yes, you need to stop fucking. its gross. not everyone, just you.

Keester, yes I was the first between us to start heading off a hangover... but if you notice, that shit don't work anymore. I was working to alleviate the symptoms and it only works for so long. as the years have progressed I've come back to the state where indulging in sweet-mother-whiskey causes me some problems the next day. Does that stop me? no. Perhaps that's my point... if you're going to indulge, you'll eventually have to pay the piper. lets not forget that. Obviously this sugar isn't a direct parallel, but it's in the same ballpark. I obviously don't know dick about the actual medical or chemical side-effects.. now I'm just arguing philosophy I guess. And as everyone knows, philosophy was never my strong suit.

i can't wait until science can help us exercise without moving, hook up without having to get up the guts to ask a pretty girl out, avoid schoolin' and eatin' greens, so we never have to leave our plush thrones in tiny closets where we can get all the virtual reality scenery we want and crap out our McLonglifeofNothingness burgers into a comfortable tube.

i wonder who is going to get the sweetest deal from this new invention?

"tagatose" spelled backwards is "eat a salad, dickface."