Comparison of Two Labels

When it comes to that random junk food craving, one might tend to gravitate for the unhealthy items loaded with tons of sodium and calories. Chips are probably one of the most popular ‘junk foods’ because of their easy access (just open a bag and dive right in) and endless variety of flavors. However, junk food doesn’t always have to mean unhealthy, if you’re craving chips - you coud always opt for a healthier version such as baked chips. For this assignment, I will be comparing the food labels of Lay’s Baked Potato Chips versus Lays Classic Potato Chips.

The basic ingredients in regular lays are potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. Vegetable oil (canola oil) is a very inexpensive oil to make which is why it is so widely used in fast food chain restaurants. In order to extract the oil it involves a high temperature mechanical pressing and a solvent, Hexane which is then followed by the oil getting bleached, deodorized and degummed, again at very high temperatures. Possibly the most noticeable difference in the two chips are the calories. Classic lays contain 160 calories from one bag and are loaded with all sorts of fats. The amount of sodium that typically goes into popular junk food is usually high, giving it that salty taste we all know and love. They also have 16 percent total fat, which is close to the high side, according to the FDA's recommendations. Although Lay's marketing tells customers to eat more than one, they might want to limit the number they actually eat. Baked foods are generally considered more healthy since they contain smaller doses of things like calories and fat. Even though they are considered healthier, they are also high in sodium just like the regular lays. You may think that because you are having Baked chips that you can eat more of them however that isn’t the case. Baked potato chips are actually much lower in vitamin C—they contain about 4 percent of your recommended daily dose per ounce as opposed to traditional potato chips with 10 percent. Baked chips are also higher in sodium providing 257 milligrams per ounce (11 percent of your daily recommended amount) compared with 147 milligrams per ounce (6 percent of your daily recommended amount) in traditional chips. The added sodium accounts for the loss in flavor since the chips aren’t being fried. Baked chips are also one of the highest sources acrylamides. This cancer-causing chemical forms when high-carb foods (like potatoes) are heated to high temperatures. The FDA found that baked potato chips contain about three times more acrylamides than traditional fried chips.