Why Are Chips Packets Filled With Air?

It’s not something new that you open a bag of chips and find more air than the quantity of chips. In fact, most portion of the bag is filled with air. So are the chips companies cheating us? Probably, not. Here’s the reason behind it.

Firstly the bag is not filled with atmospheric air but plain nitrogen. This is because nitrogen is known not to react with the molecules around it thus preserving the chips in the packet. Having this excellent preservation quality, nitrogen helps keep the chips crisp and make them last longer in the sealed packet.

Being odourless and tasteless also makes nitrogen the perfect gas for the job as it doesn’t effect the taste or smell of the originally made chips. It keeps the flavour intact so that you can experience the same taste of the chips as if they were just made. If the atmospheric air which includes oxygen mingles with the chips it reacts with the compounds and the chips start becoming stale. So try eating up all of them and not leaving the packet astray. 😉