Potato chips (North American and Australian English; often just chips) or crisps (British and Irish English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste<!-- like Pringles -->) that have been deep-fried, baked, or air-fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, appetizer or side dish. Basic potato chips are cooked and salted; additional varieties are manufactured using various seasonings, flavorings and ingredients including herbs, spices, cheeses, other natural flavors, artificial flavors, and additives.
Potato chips form a large part of the snack food and convenience food market in Western countries. The global potato chip market generated total revenue of US$16.49 billion in 2005. This accounted for 35.5% of the total savory snacks market in that year (which was $46.1 billion overall). which was a bestseller in the United Kingdom and the United States. The 1822 edition's recipe for "Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings" reads "peel large potatoes... cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping". attributed the creation of potato chips to George Crum, a cook
Flavoring
thumb|left|An advertisement for Smith's Potato Crisps
thumb|Since 2010, air frying has become a popular alternative to deep frying, including in the preparation of homemade potato chips.
In an idea originated by the Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd, formed in 1920, Frank Smith packaged his chips in greaseproof paper bags and attached a twist of salt, and sold them around London. Golden Wonder (Smith's main competitor at the time) also started to produce cheese & onion, and Smith's countered with salt & vinegar (tested first by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor and then launched nationally in 1967), starting a two-decade-long flavor war.
The first flavored chips in the United States, barbecue flavor, are also traced to 1954.
Kettle-cooked chips
thumb|right|Kettle-cooked chips
Chips were long made in a batch process, where the potato slices are rinsed with cold water to release starch, "Crisps" may be used for thin fried or baked products made from potato paste.
In August 2008, California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced a settlement with Frito-Lay, Kettle Foods, and Lance Inc., the makers of Cape Cod Potato Chips, for violating the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. The state had alleged in 2005 that potato chips from these companies failed to document that they contained high levels of acrylamide, which is listed by California since the 1990s as a carcinogen. These companies paid fines and agreed to reduce acrylamide levels to be under 275 parts per billion. Ketchup chips are flavored with tomato, garlic and onions.
In Colombia, lemon, chicken, chorizo, and sirloin steak with mushroom sauce flavored potato chips are sold.
UK and Ireland
In the United Kingdom, Walkers makes crisps with popular flavours as 'cheese fondue', 'BBQ and rib', and 'sweet chilli'. In Ireland, the word "Tayto" is synonymous with potato chips after the Tayto brand, and can be used to describe all varieties of chips, including those not produced by Tayto.
Asia
In Japan, flavors include norishio (nori and salt), consommé, wasabi, soy sauce and butter, garlic, plum, barbecue, pizza, mayonnaise, and black pepper. Chili, scallop with butter, teriyaki, takoyaki, and yakitori chip flavors are also available. Major manufacturers include Calbee and Koikeya. In Hong Kong, the two prominent potato chips are the spicy "Ethnican" variety by Calbee, and barbecue by Jack 'n Jill.
In Indonesia, potato chips are commonly called kripik kentang and traditionally fell under the kripik category. The major brands are Indofood's Chitato (since 1990s) and Lay's (Frito-Lay). In 2014, Japan's Calbee and Indonesia's Wings Food formed Calbeewings, a joint venture and marketed Potabee potato chips offering two flavors: beef BBQ and grilled seaweed. Lay's potato chips sold in Indonesia are available in six flavors: honey butter, sour cream and onion, nori seaweed, beef barbecue, classic salty, and salmon teriyaki flavors. In 2018 Chitato launched three unusual flavors: beef rendang, fried crab golden egg yolk, and mango sticky rice.
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File:Pizza potato.JPG|Bowl of pizza-flavored chips in Japan
File:Crispy and spicy potato chips in West Bengal, India, photo taken by Yogabrata Chakraborty on July 1, 2023.jpg|Triangle potato chips with Indian spicy flavors
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Similar foods
thumb|[[Pringles potato crisps are uniform in size and shape, which allows them to be stacked.]]
Another food made from potatoes, notably the Pringles and Lay's Stax brands, is made by extruding or pressing a dough made from dehydrated potato flour into the desired shape before frying. This makes a product that is uniform in size and shape, which allows them to be stacked and packaged in rigid cardboard or plastic canisters. Pringles are officially branded as "potato crisps" in the US. Pringles may be termed "potato chips" in Britain, to distinguish them from traditional "crisps", but do not meet the definition or standard of identity for potato chips. Munchos, another brand that uses the term "potato crisps", has deep air pockets in its chips that give it a curved shape, though the chips themselves resemble regular bagged chips.
An additional product similar to potato chips exists in the form of "potato sticks", also called "shoestring potatoes". These are made as extremely thin (2 to 3 mm) versions of the popular French fry but are fried in the manner of regular salted potato chips. A hickory-smoke-flavored version is popular in Canada, going by the vending machine name "Hickory Sticks". Potato sticks are typically packaged in rigid containers, although some manufacturers use flexible pouches, similar to potato chip bags. Potato sticks were originally packed in hermetically sealed steel cans. In the 1960s, manufacturers switched to the less expensive composite canister (similar to the Pringles container). Reckitt Benckiser was a market leader in this category under the Durkee Potato Stix and French's Potato Sticks names but exited the business in 2008. In 2014, French's reentered the market. A larger variant (about 1 cm thick) made with dehydrated potatoes is marketed as Andy Capp's Pub Fries, using the theme of a long-running British comic strip, which are baked and sold in a variety of flavors. Walkers make a similar product (using the Smiths brand) called "Chipsticks" which are sold in ready-salted and salt and vinegar flavors.
Some companies have also marketed baked potato chips as an alternative with lower fat content. Additionally, some varieties of fat-free chips have been made using artificial, and indigestible, fat substitutes. These became well known in the media when an ingredient many contained, olestra, was linked in some individuals to abdominal discomfort and loose stools.
Sweet potato chips are eaten in Korea, New Zealand, and Japan; parsnip, beetroot, and carrot crisps are available in the United Kingdom. India is famous for a large number of localized 'chips shops', selling not only potato chips, but also other varieties such as plantain chips, tapioca chips, yam chips, and even carrot chips. Plantain chips, also known as chifles or tostones, are also sold in the Western Hemisphere from Canada to Chile. In the Philippines, banana chips can be found sold at local stores. In Kenya, chips are made from arrowroot and cassava. In the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, and Australia, a new variety of Pringles made from rice was released in 2010 and marketed as lower in fat than its potato counterparts.
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