When is a crisp not a crisp?

When it's a Pringle, or at least that's what Pringle's themselves argue and have insisted for sometime.

"Look", they say, "there might be a bit of potato in this weirdly industrialised concave food stuff we produce, but what about all the other ingredients in them as well: there's loads of flour, both corn and rice, a fair bit of wheat starch, emulsifier and dextrose. And there's fat, lots and lots of fat. Yes, there might be potato in this over processed product. But let's not get too excited by that. It's only 42%. C'mon, what self respecting packet of crisps can stand up and claim, as a Pringle can can, "Less than half of me is potato!""

Unfortunately for the we're-not-a-crisp brigade at Pringle HQ, British judges disagree and now the tax-man is in the money.

I wonder what the PR damage is by Pringle's fighting their case so diligently. Afterall, in this era of healthy eating, it is more than a little alternative for a producer to insist just how unhealthy and unnatural their product is.

I assume that someone's done the maths to balance up the cost of the case, plus the potential cost of tax (£120m) versus the impact on sales of reminding us we're eating nothing but heavily processed starch and fat.

Comments

[Douglas]

I sort of hoped you might post on this. Excellent entry. I like the way you speak in the voice of the cake/crisp/whatever the hell it is.

[Anthony Silverbrow]

Thanks Douglas.

[hampers]

Like what I usually say when it comes to food, organic and toxic-free should be the IN thing. And you know, I like the way you write your feeling towards something you find unhealthy for consumption. People who care less tend to eat and believe what they read without scrutinizing the importance and truthfulness of the labels. Most of potato chips are not really potatoes but who cares? Anyway, there are still businesses that value truthfulness and the welfare of their customers.

[Wozzy Dias]

Hey Anthony My email is f22london.live.co.uk
Please forward to Chris topliss... Thanx Wozzy

[Anthony Silverbrow]

@Wozzy, if Chris gets in touch I will certainly.

@Hampers, again thanks for your comments and you're not by any chance trying to talk up your own book are you?