Compare chips & crisps

Research · Chips & crisps

What our research found about chips & crisps

Chips are mostly a story about oil and salt. Potato and tortilla chips are fried or baked, and the label names the oil (avocado, sunflower, coconut and olive are common in “better-for-you” bags; canola, soybean, corn and cottonseed in conventional ones). Seasoned chips add flavorings, yeast extract, dairy powders and sometimes colors. High-heat cooking of potatoes also forms acrylamide, a compound the FDA tracks and advises limiting through varied diets and cooking choices.

Among the recorded labels, a large share of chips list a seed oil, which is why many shoppers filter for avocado-oil or coconut-oil bags. Vegetable and legume chips (cassava, lentil, plantain, sweet potato) have different ingredients but are still fried snacks, so compare them to each other. Serving sizes are about an ounce, roughly 15 chips, so check sodium and fat per ounce.

Products

9119 brands

Full labels recorded

4145% of the shelf

Maker says organic

9maker’s claim

List an added sweetener

16of 41 labels

List a seed oil

28of 41 labels

Typical label length

6ingredients (median)

Counts use complete, current ingredient labels only. Records without a published label stay unknown and are never counted as clean.

What to compare

• Oil named on the label. Avocado, coconut, olive, sunflower, canola and soybean oils all appear on this shelf.
• Seasoning ingredients. Natural flavors, yeast extract and dairy powders appear in flavored chips.
• Sodium per ounce. Compare per 28 g serving; bag sizes vary.
• Base ingredient. Potato, corn, cassava, plantain and legumes change texture and nutrition.

References

1. Acrylamide and diet, food storage, and food preparation U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2. Types of fat Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
3. Sodium in your diet U.S. Food and Drug Administration
4. 21 CFR 101.22: spices, flavors, and colors on labels Code of Federal Regulations