You know how it is: you open a bag of chips, only to discover that more than half is actually air. How is that possible?
No air
Just to make it clear: there is no air in the chip bag at all. It does look like an inflated balloon, and it’s logical that you might feel cheated if you can only get a handful of chips out of it, but the ‘air’ that fills the rest of the bag is actually nitrogen gas. The normal air from the package is sucked out and replaced by almost one hundred percent nitrogen. This process is called Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP), and it is quite a complex process. But why do manufacturers come up with a process that puts so much effort into pumping out oxygen? There is a simple answer: oxygen is not good for the chips at all.
Oxygen spoils chips
You’ve probably experienced that your chips don’t seal and it’s soft the next day. Unless you’re one of those people who eats the entire bag straight away (we agree, and you’re certainly not the only one), you’ve also noticed that chips simply don’t taste the same when you eat the bag again a few days later. takes. No crispy bite, but a soft and squishy slice made of potato. The oxygen in the air causes your favorite snack to spoil. Because manufacturers also know this, they replace this oxygen with nitrogen. Nitrogen does not affect the chips because it does not form a bond with other substances. The bag is still very inflated, why does it have to be that way?
Airbag
The nitrogen added to the bag not only keeps your crispy snack fresh, but the gas also ensures that the bag remains extra well protected during transport. Chips are very fragile, as you have probably noticed, and most people are not interested in crumbs and tiny pieces. Because the packaging is so well filled with nitrogen, the gas forms a bumper that absorbs bangs, bumps and bumps. Your precious salty and crunchy snacks remain very well protected. This allows you to do your shopping without worrying about whether the contents of the bag are soft or broken. And by the way, don’t worry about the nitrogen gases in the bag: this gas is not harmful to your health.
