Frankenfood (part 1)

I've mentioned Michael Pollan's name before on the main website (http://www.ergoob.org), but one of his 7 Rules for Eating is: "Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce".

So, I was in the cafeteria at work this lunchtime when I noticed that my "oven baked" Ruffles, with "65% less fat" had a horrific list of ingredients.

Cheddar and Sour Cream oven baked Ruffles with 65% less fat

Sounds healthy, right? With words like "oven baked" and "65% less fat", but look at those artificial and unpronounceable ingredients. Yikes!

I don't eat chips very often any more but it reminded me that about a year ago I made my own potato chips at home. Now, before you write to tell me that, technically, Ruffles are "Potato Crisps" and not potato chips, I know. The food industry is SO powerful that they can dance rings around regulatory authorities and get away with deceiving consumers on a MASSIVE scale, which leads their customers to have MASSIVE readings ON the scales. Kraft Foods are one of the worst offenders. People who know me well will know that I try as hard as possible to avoid buying Kraft products.

My homemade chips were made using a mandolin with real potato, a quick spritz of cooking spray to prevent them from sticking to the plate (it's fake, I know) and a few minutes in the microwave.

When you make them yourself, you don't need many actual potatoes to produce a huge plate full of chips. The Ruffles came in a bag whose net weight was only 0.8 ounces (22.6 g) - not even a whole ounce!