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Crisps (Potato Chips & Similar Snacks)

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Rrose_Selavy

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Can anyone clarify this? I've never visited the States but I heard that you can only get plain crisps (or chips as I think they are called there) in the USA , they do not allow any of the "exotic" or less exotic flavours that we do possible due to concern about ingredients I guess. Is this true?
 
Way back in the 70's and early 80's, I remember prawn cocktail crisps tasting so good, they were almost addictive.
I don't know what happened, but in the mid-80's all prawn cocktail crisps changed their flavour (and for some reason, I lost my addiction to them).
It's possible that government regulations had forced manufacturers to change or remove a key ingredient that made them so tasty and addictive.
Anybody else notice this or have this same experience?
 
Smoky bacon crisps used to be orange and were soooooo tasty....happy days :).

As for crisps in America, I've had guacomole flavored chips over there (they were a mossy green and a bit disconcerting at first but delicious) so I think 'flavours' are allowed.
 
I liked the cinammon flavoured "apple chips" (crisps made from apples) I had in the US some years ago. Their crisp bags are huge!

Talking of food scares, hasn't the scientist who warned us not to eat farmed Scottish salmon now changed his mind?
 
Prawn cocktail flavour crisps have always been revolting. This sweet/salty abomination shouldn't be discussed in polite(ish) circles.

As for carcinogenic smokey bacon, possibly some confusion with the studies which have shown correlation between a high intake of traditionally smoked foods and cancers of the digestive tract (? aromatic hydrocarbons maybe - I forget). I suspect that smokey bacon flavour crisps have a smoked history in name only (although anything that makes your fingers smell that bad for that long and stops your computer mouse from working can't be terribly good for you).
 
mugwump said:
Prawn cocktail flavour crisps have always been revolting. This sweet/salty abomination shouldn't be discussed in polite(ish) circles.
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Heh - I'm not polite. :D
Well, I thought they were really tasty when they first came out - but I grant you, they are much less tasty these days.
 
The yanks do not have flavoured crisps on the whole. We post uk ones out to an american friend of ours.
 
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Whereabout are you? Could it perhaps vary from State to state? Can local US lawmakers decide what they allow?
 
I have to interject at this point. I need to clarify this chip or crisp situation.

First, I should say, I am Canadian, but am also familiar with American chips. Granted, having been to the UK recently I did notice a somewhat fuller selection of chip flavours. My favourite was cheese and onion. Yum! Prawn or shrimp chips would never be accepted by North Americans, that's for sure.

Anyway, off the top of my head, here is a list of chip flavours in Ontario. What do you guys from the UK think of them?

Nacho (corn chips)
Gaucamole (corn chips)
Ketchup
Barbeque
Smoky Barbeque (corn chips)
All Dressed
Sour Cream and Onion
Sour Cream and Bacon (my favourte)
Smoked Bacon (carcinogenic?)
Chili and Sour Cream
Dill Pickle
Salt and Vinegar
Zesty Cheese (corn chips)
Cheddar
Italian (corn chips)

And so on!!!
 
I don't like all these flavors - specially prawn cocktail , anyone remember Sausage and tomato? I stick to Ready Salted or if I am feeling like living on the edge a bit , then Cheese and Onion but Salt & Vinegar is not for me.
 
I'm going a bit off topic here but has anyone else noticed scampi and lemon flavour nic-nacs sneeking back on the market? YUM :)
 
Lord_Flashheart said:
I'm going a bit off topic here but has anyone else noticed scampi and lemon flavour nic-nacs sneeking back on the market? YUM :)
Click to expand...

I like their new advert that spoofs "Alien".:)
 
Austen said:
I like their new advert that spoofs "Alien".:)
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It's a clever idea, but it doesn't sell the product to me.
Yeuuuk!
 
Wenshep said:
I have to interject at this point. I need to clarify this chip or crisp situation.

First, I should say, I am Canadian, but am also familiar with American chips. Granted, having been to the UK recently I did notice a somewhat fuller selection of chip flavours. My favourite was cheese and onion. Yum! Prawn or shrimp chips would never be accepted by North Americans, that's for sure.

Anyway, off the top of my head, here is a list of chip flavours in Ontario. What do you guys from the UK think of them?

Nacho (corn chips)
Gaucamole (corn chips)
Ketchup
Barbeque
Smoky Barbeque (corn chips)
All Dressed
Sour Cream and Onion
Sour Cream and Bacon (my favourte)
Smoked Bacon (carcinogenic?)
Chili and Sour Cream
Dill Pickle
Salt and Vinegar
Zesty Cheese (corn chips)
Cheddar
Italian (corn chips)

And so on!!!
Click to expand...

Do the Italian flavoured corn chips contain real Italians? :eek!!!!:

Wandering back to the topic... the "glass in baby food" scare (did anyone ever get convicted for this?) a few years ago led directly to the introduction of new jar lids which are, incidently, impossible to open for those of us with less than perfect hands.

Jane.
 
mejane said:
Do the Italian flavoured corn chips contain real Italians? :eek!!!!:
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Some one sold hedgehog flavour crisps around 1980.

Wandering back to the topic... the "glass in baby food" scare (did anyone ever get convicted for this?) a few years ago led directly to the introduction of new jar lids which are, incidently, impossible to open for those of us with less than perfect hands.
Click to expand...


I heard that the glass turned out to be caused by a fault in the machien that put the lids on. There was also the case of some one putting caustic soda in baby-food, with a small warning note, then heating the jars so that the button popped back down and it looked unopened.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Way back in the 70's and early 80's, I remember prawn cocktail crisps tasting so good, they were almost addictive.
I don't know what happened, but in the mid-80's all prawn cocktail crisps changed their flavour (and for some reason, I lost my addiction to them).
It's possible that government regulations had forced manufacturers to change or remove a key ingredient that made them so tasty and addictive.
Anybody else notice this or have this same experience?
Click to expand...

Could it be something to do with monosodium glutimate? Maybe they don't put it in them these days.
I know that space raiders, the little 10p crisps have it in, and they are very addictive. Scarily so, in fact.
 
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Re: hedgehog flavoured crisps, is it true that they were taken off the market because they didn't taste of hedgehogs and were contravening the Trades Descriptions Act?
 
GNC said:
Re: hedgehog flavoured crisps, is it true that they were taken off the market because they didn't taste of hedgehogs and were contravening the Trades Descriptions Act?
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my mum reckoned it was because people thought they really had hedgehogs in and thought that hedgehogs were too cute to kill for meat or something.
my dad used to eat hedgehogs when he was in the army.

[a note on crisp ingredients: until very recently,
walkers smoky bacon, prawn coctail, and other assorted meat flavours - suitable for vegetarians.
walkers cheese and onion - not.]
 
GNC said:
Re: hedgehog flavoured crisps, is it true that they were taken off the market because they didn't taste of hedgehogs and were contravening the Trades Descriptions Act?
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IIRC they were Hedgehog Flavour Crisps, the distinction being that if something was described as 'Flavour' it tasted like something, but didn't contain any of the substance, but if it was 'Flavoured' it actually had to contain some of it

So there was no legal requirement requirement for 'Hedgehog Flavour Crisps' to have had any contact with a hedgehog. As to whether they actually tasted like hedgehogs, do any of the flavoured crisps really taste much like what they're supposed to be, except possibly for salt 'n' vinegar and Marmite.

I thought that their manufacturer got bought out by one of the mega-food-corporations and the line was eventually dropped because of falling sales as the joke wore thin.
 
Yeah, that was probably it. And they didn't taste all that nice either.
 
Can anyone clarify this? I've never visited the States but I heard that you can only get plain crisps (or chips as I think they are called there) in the USA , they do not allow any of the "exotic" or less exotic flavours that we do possible due to concern about ingredients I guess. Is this true?
Click to expand...

I know people have already commented on this, but I would just like to say that there are DEFINETLY flavoured chips here in the U.S. My fav. is sour cream and onion. Some of them are not so strange, but some of them are almost scary. I saw hot dog with mustard flavor recently.:cross eye
 
Trust me...Americans allow almost any flavor of chips; love them all dearly in fact.

Joking aside, one thing that struck me as odd about the original comment here is that, of all the "exotic" flavoring agents, the most dangerous materials in chips would be their very starting materials; wheat, corn, dairy, etc. All common allergens.

Then there's the cholesterol, sodium, sat fats, ect ad nauseum. Ah, maybe this is the start of a whole new diet fad: The Neurotic Diet! Scare yourself thin in less time than it takes to say "partially rehydrogenated soybean oil!"
 
I understood the thing with hedgehog flavoured crisps was the the company was called Hedgehog. So it was Hedgehog: flavoured crisps. Like Newton and Ridley: Best Bitter. (I think)

Fluffle: are you one of the many people like my self who used to conact walkers every so often to ask why Cheese and Onion where not vegi? I'm thinking of starting on dorittos next. There is no good reason for them not to be vegi.

PLEASE NOTE ALL : I do not want to get into a rights and wrongs of vegetarianism argument.
 
liveinabin said:
Fluffle: are you one of the many people like my self who used to conact walkers every so often to ask why Cheese and Onion where not vegi? I'm thinking of starting on dorittos next. There is no good reason for them not to be vegi.
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i've never contacted walkers - the way i see it it's their problem if i'm not buying their crisps, and we get supermarket own brand crisps anyway. i did contact a supermarket once when i found out that all of their own brand booze was veggie but i hadn't been able to buy it because they simply couldn't be bothered to label it as such. it just seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that most vegetarians don't know that some alcohol products aren't vegetarian.
 
Not sure if it's come up but I "heard" that all crisp flavours were originally decided by the manufactuers messing up loads of ingredients then asking the workforce "What does this most taste like?"...hence prawn cocktail tasting nothing like prawns...as to how they decided on Hedgehog flavour I really wouldn't like to know. So, true?
 
No idea, but the strategic pub-dwelling crisp-consumer always opts for Prawn Cocktail flavour.

It minimises crisp loss when you feel obligated to offer the new bag around a crowded table.

Agreed though, they taste nothing like a prawn cocktail.
 
The Yithian said:
Agreed though, they taste nothing like Prawn Cocktail.
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They almost taste like someone who had never had Prawns making a flavour that tasted like what they thought prawns would taste of.
 
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