What is the difference between potato chips in bags and potato chips in buckets? Which one is healthier?

Potato chips, as the representative of junk food, are always irresistible.

There are two kinds of potato chips we can buy on the market: bags and barrels.

Do you prefer bags or barrels?

We studied the two chips and found that there are actually big differences between them. One of them can even be considered a "fake chip."

What are the differences? Which potato chips are healthier? Let’s talk about it in this article.

01 Real and fake potato chips

They look like just two different packagings, and the prices are not much different, but everyone's preference for them is obvious:

Some people prefer the light and crispy potato chips in bags, while others prefer the thick and satisfying potato chips in barrels. Whether people can eat potato chips together is a test of friendship.

But they are both potato chips, how can the taste be so different? Aren’t they both made from potatoes?

Oh, really not.

If you want to know the truth, just look at the ingredient list. Here is a comparison of the ingredient lists of the same brand of barreled potato chips and bagged potato chips:

Did you see that the first ingredient on the bucket of potato chips is “potato flakes”?

This is a composite potato chip, made from potato flour and starch pressed into flakes. In a sense, it is not an exaggeration to call it a "fake potato chip."

But to be honest, the shape of potato chips in barrels is much better maintained than that of potato chips in bags, and they are extremely complete.

These composite potato chips are usually pressed into a relatively regular parabolic surface, and with the protection of the barrel, they will not break into crumbs.

Don’t be angry when you see this, as potato chip merchants are still very honest. If you turn the packaging bag over, you can see that they have confessed the secret: they are made from real potato chips, are thin and crispy enough, and have a pure taste.

02 Can I eat too many potato chips?

Whether it is "real potato chips" or "fake potato chips", as a typical unhealthy food in our cognition, people often ask:

So, we went to the supermarket and bought some common potato chip brands (all in original flavor barrels) to do a comprehensive comparison.

Calories: Eating a bucket of potato chips actually requires 162 minutes of exercise!

To see how high the energy of potato chips is, let's compare the energy of these samples with a K*C spicy chicken burger:

A bucket of potato chips is comparable to a hamburger, which is equivalent to the intake of a meal. So if you eat a whole bucket of potato chips in the afternoon, it is really a good snack.

In order to redeem those potato chip lovers who are unwilling to be dominated by calories, we made a heart-wrenching calculation. If we burn off this part of calories through exercise, we need:

The maximum amount of exercise was 162 minutes, but the potato chips in my hand suddenly didn't smell good anymore...

Fat: A bucket of potato chips meets your fat needs for the day!

After talking about calories, it’s time to talk about fat content. Let’s use Filo chocolate for comparison:

The fat content of a bucket of potato chips is equivalent to 5-7 Filo chocolate balls! This is almost the amount of fat an adult woman needs in a day.

It is worth noting that among these potato chips, the Good L Friends potato chips are non-fried, but their fat content is not significantly reduced.

Because even though they are non-fried potato chips, a lot of oil is used to bake the chips to make them fragrant and crispy.

So, you can't escape fat by eating non-fried potato chips!

Salt: Do you always want to drink water after eating potato chips? It’s all because of the salt!

I believe that everyone will have a dry and itchy throat after eating potato chips. People often say:

"I ate too many potato chips and got a sore throat!"

In fact, there is no such thing as "getting hot". If you feel uncomfortable in your throat, it's because of the salt in the potato chips.

Let's take a look at how much sodium is equivalent to salt in these potato chips:

The Chinese Dietary Guidelines recommend that we should not consume more than 6g of salt per day. If you want to prevent or control diseases such as high blood pressure, it is best to control it below 3g per day.

We already eat a lot of salt in our three meals, so when you eat potato chips, you should consider the salt intake carefully.

03 Which one is healthier, bagged or barreled potato chips?

Since there are differences between the two types of potato chips, which one is healthier?

We looked at whether there were any differences in their energy, fat and salt content.

The result is here:

Overall, there is not much difference between the two.

The energy and fat content of bagged potato chips is slightly higher than that of barreled potato chips, while the converted salt content of barreled potato chips is slightly higher than that of bagged potato chips.

In addition, there is another situation that needs to be reminded:

There are more types of additives in barreled potato chips because they are made from potato flour. In order to better shape and make them crispy, more additives are added than in bagged original-cut potato chips.

However, these additives are safe and legal.

After reading the full article, do you feel confused: Both types of potato chips are unhealthy, so which one should you eat?

In fact, the best way is to eat less of both. After all, they are high in calories and fat, and eating too much of them can really make you fat.

If you really want to eat, you can consider making your own potato chips, which not only exercises your hands but also helps control calories and satisfy your cravings, killing three birds with one stone~