Olean: Fat-Free or Fat Fiction?by Lauren Powell, Scituate, MAOlean is a new soybean-based oil that has been substituted for regular frying oil to create those golden brown "WOW" potato chips. According to the television commercial, the Idaho farmer who discovered this cooking sensation claims that chips fried in Olean will maintain the same flavor, consistency and texture that one would find while dining on a potato chip that had been fried in regular oil. Could it be? A fat-free oil that produces the same great taste as the regular frying oil?I can honestly say that I have had the divine privilege of tasting the new chips. To my surprise, they were just as appetizing as the regular, more fattening potato chips. However, after biting into one of these fat-free chips, I was informed that a large consumption of this Olean cooking oil can cause diarrhea!It looks like we won't be able to "chow down" on the WOW chips in the same quantity as we would the regular brand. t