# Yes, Virginia, Lay's Potato Chips are made from real potatoes! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950 "2025-10-14T01:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/21 "2025-10-14T21:57:03Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > It’s probably just marketing-speak to give consumers folksy images in their head. Of course. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/22 "2025-10-14T22:12:13Z")
My brother was once exit-polled during a major election, and he deliberately gave wrong answers. I realize most people don’t do that, which is why they’re fairly accurate. Plain Pringles (which I still think of as New Fangled Potato Chips) are one of my go-to foods when I’m sick. Yeah, I know. But I crave them sometimes! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/23 "2025-10-14T22:17:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sadly, the new tagline they’re adding to their packaging, “Made with real potatoes”, is almost more likely to engender confusion than trust. IIRC “Made with” is special FDA terminology with a detailed specific legal meaning. But what it generally connotes to consumers is “this product contains the bare legal minimum of [whatever they’re claiming], and is puffery intended to mislead me about how much there is.” Quite true. If they were to use FROM instead of WITH, consumers might be more likely to conclude that they’re _ **not** _ dealing with that notorious “bare minimum.” Of course for accuracy they’d have to add something: “Made from real potatoes, which are fried in oil, with salt and seasonings added.” Not the snappiest of mottos. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/24 "2025-10-14T22:24:50Z")
It wouldn’t hurt to say what kind of oil they’re fried in. Peanut oil in particular could be a big problem. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/25 "2025-10-14T22:33:29Z")
Yes, due to allergies. But I think American chip makers do have to disclose the type of oil. Of course NO choice of oil is going to turn potato chips into a health food… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/26 "2025-10-14T22:51:15Z")
Not even Olestra! I refused to even try anything with that in it. Around that same time, Xenical, which works by blocking fat absorption in the small intestine, hit the prescription market, and I learned quickly to give them 10 capsules instead of the 90 prescribed, even if their insurance covered it, because of the nasty side effects. > **[Olestra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra)** > > Olestra (also known by its brand name Olean) is a fat substitute food additive that adds no metabolizable calories to products. It has been used in the preparation of otherwise high-fat foods, thereby lowering or eliminating their fat content. > The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved olestra for use in the US as a replacement for fats and oils in prepackaged ready-to-eat snacks in 1996, concluding that such use "meets the safety standard for food additives, reasonable certainty of no ... ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/27 "2025-10-14T23:46:37Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean Cheetos are just corn and cheese powder when you get down to it. Doritos too. The ingredient list from Cheetos is a good four times as long as the one on Lays Potato Chips. Hell, it’s longer than the Pringles list. It starts with Enriched Corn Meal, not corn. It even has MSG in it. From a processing standpoint, it is light years away from those chips. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/28 "2025-10-14T23:50:45Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It wouldn’t hurt to say what kind of oil they’re fried in. Peanut oil in particular could be a big problem. They do. They are fried in Vegetable Oil, which they define as Sunflower, Corn and/or Canola oil. No peanut oil to be found. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/29 "2025-10-15T01:13:26Z")
Given the allergy fears around peanut anything, I’d imagine any product cooked in it would be proudly advertising that as a major feature. Also intending thereby to safely shoo away the allergic folks. I recall a local brand of kettle-style potato chips that started up in Las Vegas while I lived there. And proudly advertised their peanut oil in big prominent print on the front of the package. Not being allergic, I thought that added a lot of good flavor. I use peanut oil in my popcorn too. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/30 "2025-10-15T02:37:30Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > whatever the heck “dehydrated processed potato” is Adding to the Pringles discussion: Pringles were introduced in 1968, just in time for my older brother to return from Vietnam. He tasted one, and said, “Nope, tastes like Army dehydrated potatoes.” He probably never ate another one. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/31 "2025-10-15T13:12:10Z")
Yes, it’s definitely a processed food. But the ingredients aren’t weird unless you’re ignorant. We’ve got corn, vegetable oil, cheese, salt, and a relatively small amount of flavoring type ingredients, the only ones of which are even remotely sketchy are things like Yellow 6, and “Natural and Artificial Flavors”. The rest are pretty much bog standard food ingredients. The problem is that we list all the sub-ingredients, which makes the list look longer and stranger, when it’s not particularly odd. I mean, stuff like Niacin? That’s vitamin B3. Cheese cultures? Those are the bacteria used to convert milk into cheese. Corn maltodextrin? Basically a thickener made from corn starch. Not particularly weird. Monosodium glutamate? Harmless food additive made by fermentation of starch by microorganisms. Conceptually not far off from vinegar or any other fermentation derived ingredient. Here’s the list: 1. Enriched Corn Meal - Corn Meal - Ferrous Sulfate - Niacin - Thiamin Mononitrate - Riboflavin - Folic Acid 1. Vegetable Oil - Corn Oil - And/Or Canola Oil - And/Or Sunflower Oil 1. Whey 2. Cheddar Cheese - Milk - Cheese Cultures - Salt - Enzymes 1. Salt 2. Corn Maltodextrin 3. Natural And Artificial Flavors 4. Whey Protein Concentrate 5. Monosodium Glutamate 6. Lactic Acid 7. Citric Acid 8. Artificial Color (Yellow 6) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/32 "2025-10-15T14:02:28Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > One wonders who was polled about this, how the questions were phrased, and how many people thought it was a joke. 42% of the respondents allegedy didn’t know that Lay’s Potato Chips are indeed made from real, farm-grown potatoes. I no longer trust any “poll results” that don’t link to the actual study used. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/33 "2025-10-15T14:26:52Z")
I was listening to Nash Bozard’s _Radio Dead Air_ podcast last night, when he and his guest Tara were discussing this. They said it could be used as a test to see if someone was below average in intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/34 "2025-10-15T14:41:16Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yes, it’s definitely a processed food. But the ingredients aren’t weird unless you’re ignorant. Really, that’s how you want to play this? I responded to you because they’re far more processed than Lay’s Potato Chips, which is kind of the impetus of this thread. I might even call the ingredients weird. Oh no! You greatly oversimplified the ingredients in Cheetos (which just happen to be my preferred snack from the chip aisle). Sure, MSG isn’t the scary thing that it is usually made out to be. It’s also a common ingredient in ultra processed foods and is nowhere to be found in Lay’s Potato Chips, which is simply potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. Corn maltodextrin, whey, and whey protein concentrate are other common ingredients in ultra-processed foods. They don’t even break down the artificial flavors. Again, I LIKE Cheetos and consume them far more frequently than I should. That doesn’t mean they aren’t ultra-processed garbage. If that makes me weird and ignorant, so be it. Hell, Pringles, which is jokingly referenced in this thread is less processed than fucking Cheetos. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/35 "2025-10-15T19:20:10Z")
Over the years, I worked with pharmacists who did not know that: Lesbians menstruate Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions Women do not usually produce breast milk until after they have given birth Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/36 "2025-10-15T19:29:59Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Pringles are different. They’re made from dried potatoes mixed with a bunch of other stuff, like corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, and wheat starch, as well as flavorings. I don’t consider them to be real potato chips. Neither does the FDA. That’s why they are labeled in the US as “crisps”. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/37 "2025-10-15T19:31:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Over the years, I worked with pharmacists who did not know that… Did you intend to post this in the “[You’d think everyone would know about](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youd-think-everyone-would-know-about/)” thread? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/38 "2025-10-15T19:33:06Z")
No, it belongs here, in response to what @Czarcasm said. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/39 "2025-10-15T20:09:30Z")
Take it easy… all I was getting at was the stupidity of the crowd who puts credence in the idea of foods having “too many ingredients” or “stuff I can’t pronounce” being necessarily bad, as if either of those makes any sense or is anything less than moronic. The reason I brought up Cheetos is because they’re fundamentally a fried corn puff (they extrude the batter straight into the fryer) with cheese powder on it, and there are a small number of additional ingredients for making the cheese powder flow/coat better, or have better mouthfeel or whatever. I wouldn’t argue that they’re more processed than Pringles or even flavored potato chips, but rather equally so. Nobody eats Cheetos thinking they’re a health food, but they’re not uniquely bad either. No worse than those potato chips with a few less ingredients anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950/40 "2025-10-15T20:21:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Nobody eats Cheetos thinking they’re a health food, but they’re not uniquely bad either. No worse than those potato chips with a few less ingredients anyway. You used Cheetos and Doritos as your examples, both of which are what is typically considered [ultra-processed](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ultra-processed-foods-just-say-no-202406173051). A perfectly good example of a tortilla chip, [On the Border](https://www.ontheborderchips.com/products/cafe-style), consists of corn, vegetable oil, and salt. I have all of those things in my kitchen and use them in multiple recipes, much like potatoes. Is your argument that Cheetos and Doritos are not ultra-processed (they are) or is it that there are no issues with ultra-processed foods? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virginia-lays-potato-chips-are-made-from-real-potatoes/1023950.md?page=3)