Let's face it, people like potato chips. No wonder grocery stores dedicate a whole aisle for all variations of chips.
A popular snack, a sandwich side dish and a main component of parties, potato chips nutrition should not be overlooked. Find out all about potato chip nutrition, including Pringles and Baked Lay's nutritional info.
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Potato Chips Nutrition Facts
The standard serving size for potato chips on nutrition labels is 1 ounce — that is about 28 chips.
If you're wondering who eats that and stops, let alone who counts, then the message hits home. There is a huge discrepancy between what people read on labels and what they eat. Family-size potato chip bags, while cost-effective, can be a nutrition disaster. And eating chips around friends or while watching TV makes us vulnerable to overconsumption and mindless eating.
One 1-ounce serving of lightly salted potato chips contains:
- Calories: 157
- Total fat: 9.9 g
- Saturated fat: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 52 mg
- Total carbs: 15 g
- Dietary fiber: 1.2 g
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Protein: 1.9 g
Pringles Nutrition
You can find out how many Pringles are in a serving by checking the nutrition facts label. One serving of Original Pringles chips is 16 crisps (1 ounce or 28 grams) and contains:
- Calories: 150
- Total fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Total carbs: 16 g
- Dietary fiber: <1 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
Pringles Ingredients
According to their website, Original Pringles are made with: Dried potatoes, vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, high oleic soybean and/or sunflower oil), degerminated yellow corn flour, cornstarch, rice flour, maltodextrin, mono- and diglycerides, salt and wheat starch.
Pringles crisps also contain wheat allergens, so they're not suitable on a gluten-free diet.
Baked Lay's Nutritional Info
One serving of Lay's Baked chips is equal to 1 ounce or 28 grams — about 17 crisps — and contains:
- Calories: 120
- Total fat: 3.5 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 160 mg
- Total carbs: 22 g
- Dietary fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
Tip
Baked and reduced-fat versions of potato chips contain fewer calories and fat — but they still contain them, and they don’t always make for a healthy snack. Read labels, compare products, make a smart decision and watch your portions.
Beware of Salt in Potato Chips
It all boils down to portions, the sodium content of the specific potato chips and the amount of other high-salt foods in your diet.
Lay's Salt and Vinegar chips contain 220 milligrams of sodium per ounce, while the Classic variety has 170 milligrams. Eat three or four times the serving size, and your sodium intake will pile up.
Note that people should limit their sodium intake to no more than 2,300 milligrams per day, per the FDA. If you're eating chips with deli meat sandwiches, processed or canned foods, it makes it easy to pass your sodium limit.