Ever since getting clued into nutrition I’ve made large steps to improve my overall eating habits. Notably I almost entirely cut out all junk food, ice creams, chips, sodas, candy…etc.
However, the other day I saw a bag of lays potato chips advertising “100% real sunflower oil, healthy fats…etc.”
I checked out the nutritional facts(of which I’m usually pretty scrutinizing) and despite a few things, they really didn’t seem that bad.
Junk food is often tricky to read. They will advertise one amount of ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ aspect of their product and gloss over all the unhealthy aspects. Or they will emphasis certain nutritional facts and downplay the others.
Well, outside of there being a relatively high carb content(~15g a serving) which are sure to be refined and shitty, there really isn’t too much I can immediately say against the product.
Serving size is roughly 15 chips, and that is about 160 calories, and people that eat chips a lot will probably be eating 4 or 5 servings easily. So there is still a lot of calories. But out of 10g of fat a serving 6g are polyunsaturated fats and 3g are monounsaturated, 1g is saturated and there are 0g trans fat. So, as far as fats are concerned, it actually looks like a decent way to get an ample supply of ‘good’ fats.
At least on the surface. Which is why I’ve made this thread, am I sorely mistaken here? did fritolay actually come out with something worth mentioning, what’s the word?
I believe the fat content is computed before the oils are superheated and the chips are deep fried, which dramatically changes the composition of said fats in a negative direction.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong on that, I’m not positive on the legal technicalities.
Dont kid yourself they are still JUNK food and very likely the cheapest sunflower seed oil they can find and used VERY long as long as they can maiking the oil worse.
If you want a chip from time to time grab some but they are not good for you. treat them as such.
I am a potato chip fan also but I have also read that the process of making potato chips creates acrylamide in the actual chip which is of course a bad thing.
[quote]Phill wrote:
Dont kid yourself they are still JUNK food and very likely the cheapest sunflower seed oil they can find and used VERY long as long as they can maiking the oil worse.
If you want a chip from time to time grab some but they are not good for you. treat them as such.
Marketing brother.
Phill[/quote]
I do not WANT these chips, I don’t eat junk food. I’m not trying to justify indulging in junk food. It was just surprising, I’ve been taught how to read nutritional facts, and I thought I knew a thing or two about the tricks junk food companies play, but I could not figure this one out.
I can’t imagine chips ever being ‘good’ for you. That being said, has Lays actually taken any step here? or is it like most ‘alternatives’ that are just as bad or worse as the product they’re based on?
[quote]buffalokilla wrote:
I believe the fat content is computed before the oils are superheated and the chips are deep fried, which dramatically changes the composition of said fats in a negative direction.[/quote]
You also need to remember that saturated fat is considered by governments to be evil, and veg oils such as sunflower better - personally I’d consider potato chips cooked in coconut oil to be way better - even though this would make them high in sat fats.
I’m a fiend for Kettle cooked chips. Not the mainstream ones though, except for Cape Cod ones. Dirty brands are delicious! Their cracked pepper and sea salt ones are ridiculous!
[quote]buffalokilla wrote:
I believe the fat content is computed before the oils are superheated and the chips are deep fried, which dramatically changes the composition of said fats in a negative direction.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong on that, I’m not positive on the legal technicalities.[/quote]
My understanding is that the grams of fat in each category (sat, poly, mono, trans) would be the same before and after cooking, but that polyunsaturated give off more free radicals than saturated or trans fat when cooked at high heat. If anyone can add to that, please do.
Sunflower oil is one the shittiest oil the industry can use. It has great frying capability, but it’s fat profile is lousy. It contains a minimum of 50% linoleic acid, which is an omega-6 fatty acid.
Plus, as Octobergirl said, frying produce acrylamide. This is especially true in starchy food, such as potatoes, and is a major proponent of cancer and impotence (ED)