# Are nitrogen-filled snack bags healthy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492 "2004-10-04T18:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/1 "2004-10-04T18:12:56Z")
Bags of potato chips can be really puffy these days from a puff of nitrogen injected during manufacture. This pushes out the oxygen, so they stay fresh longer. But they also stay exposed to nitrogen longer. Nitrogen is less reactive, but doesn’t it create undesirable chemicals over time? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/2 "2004-10-04T18:22:12Z")
I would hope not. After all, the air around us is composed of about 78% nitrogen. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/3 "2004-10-04T18:23:33Z")
Nope. Nitrogen is virtually inert at ordinary temperatures and pressures. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/4 "2004-10-04T18:26:10Z")
> [@the first supraliminal](#): > > Bags of potato chips can be really puffy these days from a puff of nitrogen injected during manufacture. > This pushes out the oxygen, so they stay fresh longer. > But they also stay exposed to nitrogen longer. Nitrogen is less reactive, but doesn’t it create undesirable chemicals over time? Yessireee, those nitrogen filled bags are as healthy as can be, provided you don’t eat them. The air you breate is approximately 80% nitrogen and you breathe it day in and day out without difficulty. The CO2 in one soft drink amounts to more more gas taken into the digestive track that a whole big sack of any kind of fried or baked chips. CAUTION: As for the potato/tortilla/sweet potato/corn chips; BEWARE they are stuffed to the gills with calories, calories, calories! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/5 "2004-10-04T18:32:11Z")
What the others said and: In almost every case, oxygen is responsible for food spoilage. Displace the O2 and alot of problems are solved. In the fine wine world, a puff of argon into the wine bottle before reclosing is common. Same effect, more expensive gas. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/6 "2004-10-04T20:03:08Z")
That’s sort of what I was thinking of. I thought wine had nitrogen added and it formed nitrites (or is it nitrates) which are chemicals to be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/7 "2004-10-04T20:13:20Z")
No, nitrogen is very unreactive. It was a big challenge for industrialists to figure out a way to make it react with anything. It was only solved less than 100 years ago with the Haber process. This requires high temperature and catalysts and stuff. We can be thankful for Mr. Haber, because the productivity of modern agriculture can in part be attributed to the products of his process. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-nitrogen-filled-snack-bags-healthy/267492/8 "2004-10-04T20:43:56Z")
Not to mention modern warfare. :eek: