January 14, 2025 at 12:53 pm

Here’s The Reason Potato Chip Bags Are Full Of So Much Air

by Trisha Leigh

Source: Shutterstock

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that when you pay (an increasingly high price) for a bag of chips, you’re forking over your hard-earned cash for a bunch of air.

Why is it there, though, and why does there have to be so much?

The common thought is that the air protects the chips from breaking or being crushed in transit. Additionally, people believe the presence of gas helps if the bags experience changes in atmospheric pressure, like on an airplane.

The bags, interestingly, are filled with nitrogen, not oxygen or “room air,” since oxygen quickly turns chips soft and stale.

Source: Shutterstock

Nitrogen helps keep the oils and starches pure, meaning the chips remain crunchy and fresh for longer. Nitrogen is non-reactive, odorless, and safe, making it a no-brainer of a choice.

That said, no one believes for one second that they couldn’t achieve the same results with more chips and less air in every bag.

Artist and food photographer Henry Hargreaves did a (not-scientific) experiment in an attempt to determine whether all that gas is really necessary.

He told BBC Future that the extra cushion actually didn’t help prevent damage to the chips inside.

“I assumed the air would stop them breaking, but the reverse happened. The ones with the most air also have the most breakage. I found when I vacuum-sealed them this was the most efficient way to transport and handle them without breaking them.”

Source: Shutterstock

Which doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but Hargreaves (and others) have to wonder when the backlash is going to expand from outrage over fewer chips.

“For example, 86 out of every 100 trucks carrying Doritos don’t need to be on the road. That’s a big carbon footprint.”

Yikes!

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read a story that reveals Earth’s priciest precious metal isn’t gold or platinum and costs over $10,000 an ounce!