tonight the i-team investigates a diet food that some say is downright dangerous it's a some kind of a noodle that promises to fill up your stomach but one woman says it put her in the hospital as Chris gloriosa reports she wants the FDA to take action TV host and jewelry expert carol brodie watches her weight religiously so when she heard about better than pasta she gave it a try the noodles are made from konjac flour an ingredient that's supposed to make your stomach feel full half a bag just 15 calories so Carol cooked up four
bags if I eat three or four bags of this I was still looking at just around 100 calories so how great is that and I was gonna get to fill up within a few hours Carol says her better than pasta dream all the sudden I start getting the most horrendous tightening pulling cramps became a diet disaster I felt like I was dying I felt like I felt like I was gonna choke to death medical records show Carol went to the hospital physician notes said they found a large mass obstructing her bowel and they suspected food
or noodles had congealed into a bezoar that's a medical term for a solid clump of indigestible material when you swallow it it doesn't dissolve in your stomach and that's why it's able to keep you full for so long this company knew that this product was not safe to consume but they put it on Amazon attorney Rosemarie Arnold has now filed this lawsuit on Brodie's behalf accusing the makers of better than pasta of failing to warn that eating too much konjac could create a digestive blockage she's also suing Amazon the platform where Brody bought the noodles
better than pasta has a three-and-a-half star review on Amazon but the i-team found other consumers echoing Brody's complaints saying the noodles stuck like a rock right in my epigastric area ripped my gut up and caused unholy levels of gastric upset and rage this particular product has been known to harm other people in Australia emergency room doctor Michael Ben Muir reported treating a patient who developed an enormous blockage after eating a single hack of konjac noodles it's not clear what brand in this particular case it was large you know it was in the over you know
two to three oranges size the FDA considers konjac safe and says there are no reports of serious problems associated with it last month the agency approved a petition allowing food producers to market konjac as a source of dietary fiber California food consultant George Salamis wrote that petition when you look at the amount of konjac the enmity in the US and the number of problems that arise I think that the problems are just a tiny tiny tiny percentage but critics say the research on konjac is industry-funded and thin the Center for Science in the Public Interest
an FDA watchdog calls konjac a fake fiber and fears calling it true dietary fiber could lead to more consumption and more upset stomachs we warned the FDA back when it was considering adding these fake fiber claims that this is the kind of thing they would see in the marketplace in foods and we're sad to be right about that the FDA currently has no plans to require a warning label on konjac noodles after Carol Brodie left a negative review on Amazon the makers of better than pasta responded with a message saying sorry to hear of your
recent health issues but insisting the product is safe the i-team left several emails and voice messages for the makers of better than pasta but we have not heard back and amazon declined comment back to you thank you for watching this video from NBC for New York you can subscribe by tapping the button below me and on the left you can see our latest updates investigations and digital exclusives we'll see you next time
