While browsing the health food section of my supermarket, I came across EatSmart Veggie Crisps. I’m always looking to try new foods, and these seemed like they might be a somewhat healthy substitute for potato chips, so I picked up a bag.
The packaging is designed to make them appear healthier. The bag is primarily green, and it has clear window through which the perfectly shaped yellow, green, and pink(ish) chips can be seen. The tag line on the bag reads A bountiful blend of potato, spinach and tomato chips. The back of the bag has the following blurb:
EatSmart Veggie Crisps blend the garden fresh goodness of real potatoes, tomatoes and spinach so you can savor their natural vegetable flavors. The crunchy ridges make Veggie Crisps the perfect compliment to your favorite dip or salsa. Veggie Crisps are made with 100% pure canola oil, which is naturally low in saturated fat. With every bite, you will taste how this light, vegetable snack is better for you – naturally. So go ahead, EatSmart . . . and enjoy!
Do the chips live up to the marketing?
I did not find the chips to be particularly tasty; I found them to be slightly cakey with no real flavor. I was certainly not able to notice any flavor differences amongst the potato, tomato, and spinach chips. I did note that the tomato and spinach chips were more dense than the potato chips.
Veggie Crisps are not actualy slices of vegetables, like potato chips, but are reconstituted from powdered ingredients. Here is the ingredients list for Veggie Crisps:
- Whole potato flour
- Canola oil
- Tomato puree
- Spinach and beet powders
- Turmeric
- Salt
From this ingredients list, it appears that Veggie Crisps are essentially little cakes consisting mainly of reconstituted ground potato flour and cooked in canola oil. I’m guessing that the tomato puree acts as the binding agent for the flour; spinach and beet powder are added to give color to the “spinach” and “tomato” chips; and turmeric is probably added to give a yellow color to the “potato” chip. Salt is added because, well, how can you have a chip without salt?
The Veggie Crisps package says “…this light, vegetable snack is better for you – naturally”. Better than what? It doesn’t say. But I’m betting the manufacturer (Snyders of Hanover, Inc.) is betting that consumers will think “potato chip” (which is what I did). Why wouldn’t they just directly say “potato chip”?
Compare the Veggie Crisps nutritional information to that of a typical potato chip. I’ve taken the information for Veggie Crisps and Ruffles Potato Chips and put them in the table below for easy direct comparison.
From the table, the Veggie Crisps are only appreciably better than Ruffles in terms of fat. However, the Veggie Crisps have about twice as much sodium as Ruffles. The Veggie Crisps packaging reports no appreciable amounts of fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals.
In conclusion, Veggie Crisps aren’t particularly tasty and don’t provide any appreciable health advantages over a typical potato chip. That’s why the packaging doesn’t make any direct comparisons to potato chips.
So, what are these things doing in the health food aisle of my supermarket?
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