Do Not Fall for Baked Chips. They are full of Toxic Ingredients

A lot of people fell for the -Baked Lays are a healthy alternative to Fried chips- marketing when Baked were first released. However, these “healthy” snacks may in fact have slightly less calories, sodium,  and fat, but not enough to make a difference. These “healthy” snacks are mostly made up of chemicals and salt, not much of the nutrition you were expecting.

Let’s take a minute to look at Fried chips ingredients: Potatoes, Sunflower and/or Canola oil and salt. These oils are highly toxic when used at a high temperature, like what is required to fry these potatoes. When frying these chips at the high temperature, the starch in the potatoes is subjected to the high heat and forms the carcinogen, acrylamide. It doesn’t matter if the oil is made to withstand high heat either.  

On to Baked chips.

The potatoes aren’t even fresh! They are dried, and there is no information given on how this process was completed. It is likely that the potatoes were dried at a very high heat, which would subject the potatoes to acrylamide. Once the chips have been dried, then they are baked at a low temperature. 

The FDA shows, Baked chips have three times the level of the carcinogen acrylamide than the fried version. Since the Baked Lays are not organic (and neither are the Fried option), ingredients like: Potatoes, corn starch, corn oil, sugar (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and soy lecithin are most likely from a GMO (genetically modified) source.
•Potatoes. Mice fed with potatoes engineered with Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki Cry 1 were found to have this toxin in their system.
• Corn has been modified to create its own Insecticide. Monsanto has revealed half of US sweet corn has been planted with GMO seeds. Mice fed with GMO corn have smaller babies and have fertility problems.
• Sugar and corn sugar (high fructose corn syrup). Rats fed HFCS gained 300% more fat than those being fed (even slightly more amounts of) regular sugar or sugar from fruit. It also fattens your heart with bad cholesterol, causing plaque build up, leading to hypertension, heart disease and even stroke. Liver, gallbladder and kidneys process HFCS. It is highly destructive to the liver and can cause fatty liver. Scarring of the liver diminishes its ability to process out toxins that will make you sick. HFCS is also high in Mercury levels. Exposure (in young, growing children especially) can result in irreversible brain and nervous system damage.
• Soy has been modified to resist herbicides. Soy products include soy flour, tofu, soy beverages, soybean oil, soy lecithin and other products including pastries, baked products and edible oils. Hamsters fed with GMO soy, were unable to have offspring and suffered a high mortality rate.

The debate of Fried vs Baked isn’t unhealthy vs healthy. It’s more like, these toxins vs those toxins. Knowing how the starch in potatoes is exposed to carcinogens at high heat, you should take apple chips or carrot sticks in place of these toxic chips.