Best Potato Chip I Ever Had

A few weeks ago, I was invited to tour the Frito Lay plant in Killingly, CT (full discolsure: I am a media spokesperson for Frito Lay). It was the first time I had ever seen how chips were made, and it was quite an experience. If you’ve ever looked at the back of the bag of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips or Tostitos Corn Chips you would see that there are only 3 simple ingredients in these chips: Potatoes or corn, vegetable oil (corn, sunflower, canola, or soybean oil), and salt. Whether you believe this or not, I can tell you with 100% certainty that is all there is — there are no other ingredients in these chips, just these 3 natural ones.

Here are some other interesting facts I learned and saw with my own eyes:

• The potatoes come from local farms and are used within 24 hours.
• There are 3 registered dietitians on staff and they work with chefs in the culinary center to help make healthier products using natural ingredients.
• A 10 ounce bag of Lay’s Original Potato Chips is made using 4.5 medium potatoes, 7 teaspoons oil, and 0.7 teaspoon salt.
• In 2003, Frito Lay was the first major food company to remove trans fats from their snacks.

Here are some cool pictures from the tour:

Unloading potatoes at the plant

Potato chips hot off the press - the best I've ever had!

The ingredients used to make corn chips; the roller is used to cut out corn chips in the right size and shape

Frito Lay has worked hard (and continues) to make healthier snack products, and they want consumers and health professionals to be educated about their products. They have created many websites for this purpose, including:

• SnackSense.com for health professionals
• LicensetoSnack.com for consumers and dietitians
• Snacks.com, the Frito Lay blog for consumers and health professionals

Check them out — maybe you’ll learn something new about snack foods!