Non UPF crisps

As a nation, we love crisps.

In fact, in Britain we chomp through 6 billion packets a year.

I think I ate a pretty good portion of those during my first pregnancy.

Traditionally, crisps were potatoes. Fried and salted. Packed up.

Today, the crisp aisle looks pretty different. Puffs. Shells. Shapes. Sticks. Vegetable. Ridged. Light.

Not all crisps even contain potatoes. Madness.

Non UPF crisps

Crisps today contain more than the three ingredients they started out with.

No longer is it just salt, potato, and oil.

Now, in these reformulated potato snacks you can expect to see the following:

Wotsits: Maize, Rapeseed Oil, Cheese Flavour [Dried Cheese (from Milk)(7% ), Milk Lactose, Flavour Enhancer (Disodium 5’Ribonucleotide), Lactic Acid, Colours (Paprika Extract, Annatto), Natural Flavourings, Salt, Potassium Chloride]

Pringles: Dehydrated potatoes, sunflower oil, wheat flour, corn flour, rice flour, maltodextrin, emulsifier (E471), salt, colour (annatto norbixin).

Skips: Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Maize Flour, Prawn Cocktail Flavour [Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavourings, Acid: Citric Acid, Dried Onion, Natural Vinegar Flavouring, Potassium Chloride, Yeast Extract, Spice, Dried Tomato, Natural Pepper Flavourings, Colour: Paprika Extract], Rice Protein, Sugar, Salt

What on earth is maltodextrin and what is it up to in crisps?

These types of crisps are ultra processed foods. They’re designed to be highly palatable. To have a certain mouth feel. To be fast to eat. So you eat more… without getting full.

After all, once you pop you can’t stop.

According to Good Food, the dough is rolled out and fried. The article writes:

The high temperature potentially generates a substance called acrylamide, exposure to which may be carcinogenic, although the findings from human studies is inconsistent.