Cellar Scribblings

[Jeff Wrangler]

Because Pringles aren't actually made with real potato?the recipe calls for dehydrated processed potato?the FDA ruled in 1975 that Pringles could only be called "chips" if they provided a disclaimer, identifying them as "potato chips made from dried potatoes." Pringles scrapped that idea and renamed them potato "crisps

But how to they define "real potato"? Why isn't "dehydrated processed potato" potato?  And how are they processed--I mean, turned into those chip-like things that come in the can? Are they baked, or what? 

What I'd like to get at is what might be the difference between Pringles and the different "baked" (as opposed to cooked in fat, I presume) potato "chips" marketed by other companies, like Herr's, for example. 

[serious crayons]

But how to they define "real potato"? Why isn't "dehydrated processed potato" potato?  And how are they processed--I mean, turned into those chip-like things that come in the can? Are they baked, or what? 

What I'd like to get at is what might be the difference between Pringles and the different "baked" (as opposed to cooked in fat, I presume) potato "chips" marketed by other companies, like Herr's, for example. 

Pringles are made from potato dough/batter placed in a mold to produce uniform objects. Looks like there are a few other brands of baked potato items made like Pringles. As Chuck said, they don't call themselves chips; sometimes they barely identify the potato-based objects.

Note that on this bag, there's no noun at all at the top of the bag in big letters, though it does mention below the BAKED that the contents have less fat than "regular potato chips," implying that they're otherwise the same product. But in the lower left corner in small letters, it says "potato crisps."





But there are also baked potato chips that are like regular chips -- i.e., thin slices of intact potatoes with irregular and sometimes curled or folded over shapes -- except baked.




All this must cause massive confusion in England, where ordinary potato chips are called crisps, and "chips" means french fries. And if that's not sufficiently confusing, in England cookies are called biscuits; it's not clear what they call actual biscuits -- it's possible they just don't have them.

Another way to explain the difference between Pringles and regular chips is to compare it to the difference between crab legs and "krab" legs, the latter of which are made with pureed whitefish flavored like crab, extruded into stick shapes and painted with a pink stripe. I once visited a factory that made those, and I'll just tell you that I've never eaten them since.

[Sason]

It's a sarcastic way to refer to a speech meant to hype you up or make you enthusiastic about something.


She gave us a speech about the importance of jury duty, and how what we were doing was important, to try to stop us from feeling inconvenienced by serving.

It's called "rah rah" speech because at sporting events, cheer leaders would shout "rah rah" at crowds to get them hyped and excited about the game.

I see. Thanks

[Jeff Wrangler]

Pringles are made from potato dough/batter placed in a mold to produce uniform objects. Looks like there are a few other brands of baked potato items made like Pringles. As Chuck said, they don't call themselves chips; sometimes they barely identify the potato-based objects.

Note that on this bag, there's no noun at all at the top of the bag in big letters, though it does mention below the BAKED that the contents have less fat than "regular potato chips," implying that they're otherwise the same product. But in the lower left corner in small letters, it says "potato crisps."





But there are also baked potato chips that are like regular chips -- i.e., thin slices of intact potatoes with irregular and sometimes curled or folded over shapes -- except baked.




All this must cause massive confusion in England, where ordinary potato chips are called crisps, and "chips" means french fries. And if that's not sufficiently confusing, in England cookies are called biscuits; it's not clear what they call actual biscuits -- it's possible they just don't have them.

Another way to explain the difference between Pringles and regular chips is to compare it to the difference between crab legs and "krab" legs, the latter of which are made with pureed whitefish flavored like crab, extruded into stick shapes and painted with a pink stripe. I once visited a factory that made those, and I'll just tell you that I've never eaten them since.

I've been at my dad's for the weekend. Today we opened a bag of Ruffles "Baked." In a lower corner of the bag, in fairly small white letters that were barely visible against the blue background, they were described as "Potato Crisps."

The next thing I'd like to do is compare the "nutritional" content of Pringles to other baked "crisps."

[Front-Ranger]

According to Livestrong, a serving (1 oz) of Pringles has 9 grams of fat, 2.5 of it saturated, whereas Baked Lays has 3.5 grams of fat, none of it saturated. Baked Lays has 2 grams of sugar whereas Pringles has none. They are about the same in sodium.

[serious crayons]

According to Livestrong, a serving (1 oz) of Pringles has 9 grams of fat, 2.5 of it saturated, whereas Baked Lays has 3.5 grams of fat, none of it saturated. Baked Lays has 2 grams of sugar whereas Pringles has none. They are about the same in sodium.

Baked Lays 15g carbs and 1.2g fiber

Pringles: 16g carbs and <1g fiber

[Jeff Wrangler]

Herr's Baked Potato Crisps

The whole 2-1/8 oz. bag:

5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat
0 cholesterol
380 mg sodium (    )
47 g total carbs
4 g total sugar, 3 g added sugar

[serious crayons]

I was going to say wow, that's a lot of carbs, but I went back and realized my figures were for one ounce. Plus I have the wrong figure above for Lay's, for some reason. Can't remember where I saw it but on the Walmart site it's 22g/oz for the low-fat one -- low-fat things often have more carbs because they add sugar to make up for the loss of fat flavor. For 2.5 ounces the carbs in Baked Lays would be about 47g; Pringles 34g.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I was going to say wow, that's a lot of carbs, but I went back and realized my figures were for one ounce. Plus I have the wrong figure above for Lay's, for some reason. Can't remember where I saw it but on the Walmart site it's 22g/oz for the low-fat one -- low-fat things often have more carbs because they add sugar to make up for the loss of fat flavor. For 2.5 ounces the carbs in Baked Lays would be about 47g; Pringles 34g.

The general rule seems to be, If something tastes good, it's bad for you.

Things that are low in fat seem to be high in sodium and/or sugar (both bad for you in large amounts).
Things that are low in sodium and/or sugar, seem to be high in fat/cholesterol.

You can't win. But then, we probably shouldn't be eating potato chips/crisps anyway. ...

I need to check the stats for pretzels. I try to be good and buy "unsalted minis," which have no taste, but sometimes I buy regular pretzels.

I do stick with the "minis" because I figure if I know the number of pretzels that make up one serving, I can do a little math and figure out the stats for one pretzel--at least in theory.

[serious crayons]

The general rule seems to be, If something tastes good, it's bad for you.

Well, only in that we consider weight gain bad. Fat was very good for you back in the Pleistocene, because it kept you from starving. Most people probably didn't live long enough to have heart attacks. As for sugar, I once heard from a doctor that no sweet thing in nature is poisonous. So I guess that means poison berries aren't sweet, though I won't be putting them to a taste test. Anyway, that supposedly explains how humans developed a taste for sweets along with fat.

Things that are low in fat seem to be high in sodium and/or sugar (both bad for you in large amounts).
Things that are low in sodium and/or sugar, seem to be high in fat/cholesterol.

Some exceptions would be vegetables, meat, fish, eggs and nuts. (All but vegetables have some fat but it's the good kind and not enough to be harmful to health in and of themselves.)

I need to check the stats for pretzels. I try to be good and buy "unsalted minis," which have no taste, but sometimes I buy regular pretzels.

I get nuts or trail mix. I do get salted, though. My bp was up last time I went to the doctor, so I should start being more careful than I have been. I love pretzels, though. And popcorn. I like potato and tortilla chips but can pass them up. I out and out hate Cheetos. Blecchhhh, as Mad Magazine would say.