Are (potato) chips a scam????

[100% habibi, 0% jihadi]

I live in Denmark.

The most popular brand of chips is called Kims.

They recently started putting stickers on their products saying the bag(s) now has 50% less metal.

And I go - okay so they're trying to paint themselves as being pro sustainability or whatever.

But here's the thing: the bag is still at least 50% bigger than it needs to be.

We all know this. It's like that with every brand of chips. The bag is always like 50% air.

So yeah Ngl i find it hard to believe they actually care about the environment.

I suppose to the question is this

Why are potato chips bags at least twice as large as they need to be?????

[Brick]

Bing bong

[sfnhltb]

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

Początkowo opublikowane przez ṼṏẌṏḭḊ:

I don't remember what it is exactly, but the bags aren't filled with air, it's nitrogen or something.
Keeps everything nice and fresh until the bag is opened.

I get that they have to do that, but why do they have to fill up half the bag with that? Couldn't they just fill it up with a little bit?

It is to reduce the chance them breaking, an inflated bag protects the contents from turning into shards rather than staying as whole crisps as originally manufactured. It is also a product safety/freshness feature in the same way lots of jars have vacuum seals so you know they haven't been tampered with after manufacturing or damaged in transit - if the packet is deflated it means the airtight seal has been broken and the contents may be contaminated or stale.

[100% habibi, 0% jihadi]

Początkowo opublikowane przez sfnhltb:

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

I get that they have to do that, but why do they have to fill up half the bag with that? Couldn't they just fill it up with a little bit?

It is to reduce the chance them breaking, an inflated bag protects the contents from turning into shards rather than staying as whole crisps as originally manufactured. It is also a product safety/freshness feature in the same way lots of jars have vacuum seals so you know they haven't been tampered with after manufacturing or damaged in transit - if the packet is deflated it means the airtight seal has been broken and the contents may be contaminated or stale.

Spotted the guy working in the potato chips business.

Heres a question guy

Why is it the cheap brands of potato chips barely have any air in them and still manage to taste perfectly fine????? Huh?????? You got an answer for that one????

[xAlphaStarOmegax]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Heya:

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

I get that they have to do that, but why do they have to fill up half the bag with that? Couldn't they just fill it up with a little bit?

Yea dood thats what I'm asking too b cause I recently debated this with someone and he said the same thing about it being necessary to retain freshness or whatever and I asked the EXACT same thing as you. Like.....ok here's what I don't get they are plenty of cheap brands of potato chips where there is nowhere near as much air and they taste fine so why can't Lays etc do the same?????

I have had chips that have had less of that chemical air in them, and they tasted fresh. I understand why they have to do it, but there's no excuse in my book for a bag of chips that isn't even half full. I am no chip expert, though.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Heya:

Początkowo opublikowane przez sfnhltb:

It is to reduce the chance them breaking, an inflated bag protects the contents from turning into shards rather than staying as whole crisps as originally manufactured. It is also a product safety/freshness feature in the same way lots of jars have vacuum seals so you know they haven't been tampered with after manufacturing or damaged in transit - if the packet is deflated it means the airtight seal has been broken and the contents may be contaminated or stale.

Spotted the guy working in the potato chips business.

Heres a question guy

Why is it the cheap brands of potato chips barely have any air in them and still manage to taste perfectly fine????? Huh?????? You got an answer for that one????

The sell by date is shortened. They get stale faster.

[Chalupacabaras]

Początkowo opublikowane przez cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Heya:

Spotted the guy working in the potato chips business.

Heres a question guy

Why is it the cheap brands of potato chips barely have any air in them and still manage to taste perfectly fine????? Huh?????? You got an answer for that one????

The sell by date is shortened. They get stale faster.

:qr:

That tends to happen when you don't use a lot of fake ingredients and preservatives. Fresh stuff is cheaper in bulk.

[qbl²¾]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Heya:

Why are potato chips bags at least twice as large as they need to be?????

To cause disappointment in customer so they buy more to fill the disappointment with calories

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Początkowo opublikowane przez sfnhltb:

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

I get that they have to do that, but why do they have to fill up half the bag with that? Couldn't they just fill it up with a little bit?

It is to reduce the chance them breaking, an inflated bag protects the contents from turning into shards rather than staying as whole crisps as originally manufactured. It is also a product safety/freshness feature in the same way lots of jars have vacuum seals so you know they haven't been tampered with after manufacturing or damaged in transit - if the packet is deflated it means the airtight seal has been broken and the contents may be contaminated or stale.

This

BTW, the bags are filled with nitrogen instead of just air.

[Cokefish]

If you go to an ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Latin grocery store they have good fried snacks and won't pull of this bull shrinkflation tactics... that being said, potato snacks fool your body into thinking they're a satisfying snack when they're really not. You always gotta have fresh fruit and vegetables on hand, teach these potato chip companies a painful lesson.

[Chalupacabaras]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Cokefish (shrillby):

If you go to an ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Latin grocery store they have good fried snacks and won't pull of this bull shrinkflation tactics... that being said, potato snacks fool your body into thinking they're a satisfying snack when they're really not. You always gotta have fresh fruit and vegetables on hand, teach these potato chip companies a painful lesson.

Yeah, I'll get started on that in a bit... after I finish this third bag of cuttlefish chips from my local Asian grocery store. Holy mother of pearl goddesses, these things are soooo good!

[skOsH♥]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Heya:

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

I get that they have to do that, but why do they have to fill up half the bag with that? Couldn't they just fill it up with a little bit?

Yea dood thats what I'm asking too b cause I recently debated this with someone and he said the same thing about it being necessary to retain freshness or whatever and I asked the EXACT same thing as you. Like.....ok here's what I don't get they are plenty of cheap brands of potato chips where there is nowhere near as much air and they taste fine so why can't Lays etc do the same?????

Seems like it's definitely bs as what do most potato chips have in them? Salt and other preservatives

[100% habibi, 0% jihadi]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Chalupabaras:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Cokefish (shrillby):

If you go to an ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Latin grocery store they have good fried snacks and won't pull of this bull shrinkflation tactics... that being said, potato snacks fool your body into thinking they're a satisfying snack when they're really not. You always gotta have fresh fruit and vegetables on hand, teach these potato chip companies a painful lesson.

Yeah, I'll get started on that in a bit... after I finish this third bag of cuttlefish chips from my local Asian grocery store. Holy mother of pearl goddesses, these things are soooo good!

I can't eat seafood at all. I used to be able to eat shrimp salmon and all sorts of other stuff when I was really young but then something happened (i dont know what) some years ago which makes my body just...violently reject it. The only point of comparison is thosw videos where someone affected by rabies hold a glass of water close to their mouth and they just spasm out. It's like a whole body reaction.


Really sucks because I used to love the taste and smell of it, but now it makes me nauseous.....

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Chalupabaras:

Początkowo opublikowane przez cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

The sell by date is shortened. They get stale faster.

That tends to happen when you don't use a lot of fake ingredients and preservatives. Fresh stuff is cheaper in bulk.

All food spoils at some point. They just found a way to extend the life without adding other, artificial preservatives.

And most don't use fake ingredients or preservatives other than the salt.

[Vinegaroon]

They are not a scam, but they are not good for you and there are better things you can spend your money on

[Tonepoet]

Potato chips are not a scam. They fill the bags up with nitrogen to serve as something referred to as "slack fill" which protects the chips from being broken and ground into dust in transportation.[www.yahoo.com] Also, the potato chips are required to have their net weight printed on the bag by the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966, so you always have an idea of how much food you are getting when comparing like products.

This "scam" would only work once until you get an idea of how much food you get when buying 4 ounces of potato chips. Slack fill fruad cases are routinely filed, and routinely dismissed in court.[www.bilzin.com] Also, no, it is not because the system is corrupt. It is because slack fill works. Matpat did an experiment which confirmed this in the video Food Theory: Are Doritos a Rip-Off? He not only confirmed that slack fill worked, but he also confirmed that they packed in the optimal chip to gas ratio to minimize breakage, which ends up being 16% and 84% gas.

He also brings up another point. Even though slack fill is meant to prevent the chips from breaking, it is far from a perfect system. The bags are likely filled to the brim at the factory, but by the time the product reaches you, most of the chips are broken regardless, and those broken chips consume less volume so the bag looks emptier by the time it reaches you than it did at the time it was filled.

There is no scam here: Just ignorance of industry standard practices and the reasons behind them.