From:	Paul Gettle RunnerPaul@*****.com
Subject:	Pringles (Was: Re: [OT] Dicebag from Hell)
Date:	Sat, 27 Feb 1999 20:35:08 -0500

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At 04:57 PM 2/27/99 +0000, A Halliwell wrote:
>P.S. CONGRATULATIONS!
>You called em CRISPS! (which is what they are)
>I'll never understand the american need to call a crisp a 'chip', and
a chip
>a 'french fry'...

Actually, if Pringles had their way, they would be called chips here
on the west side of the Pond However, back when Pringles were first
introduced, all the other snack food manufacturers felt threatened by
the new potato snack that comes in a tall can.

Seems that the process for making Pringles, which involves mashing
potatos down to a coarse pulp and running them through a machine that
manufactures the distinctive saddle curve shape that is Pringles'
trademark, is a bit more efficient than slicing potatos thin and deep
frying them. Less potato is wasted, and all the other snack
manufacturers felt threatened by the new snack's cost-effectiveness.

As a result, the other snack manufacturers lobbied the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, because that particular government body sets
regulations for food labeling. They convinced the Ag. Dept. that since
the new snack was not prepared by slicing a potato thin and deep
frying, that it could not be labeled in this country as a "Potato
Chip".

Despite this, Pringles are commonly refered to as potato chips in the
U.S. In fact, when the U.S. Government tighened guidelines for what
products could be labeled with the word "Light", Pringles found that
their Light Crisps fell short of the new guidelines. Rather than
change their recipe, they changed the product name to "Right Crisps",
which only required a slight package re-design. Even with this, few
people in the U.S. realize that Pringles' light chips are neither
"Light" nor "chips".

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-- Paul Gettle, #970 of 1000 (RunnerPaul@*****.com)
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