Composition of potato chips: myths and truth. How chips are made Who makes Lay's chips
Today, chips are one of the most popular potato products. Despite all the resistance of nutritionists, everyone eats them: both adults and children. There are several brands of potato chips in the world. Among them, the most famous and beloved brand by millions of people is Lays.
Manufacturer
The history of Lays chips began in America in 1932. It was then that young entrepreneur Herman W. Lay began selling potato chips in Nashville, Tennessee. But then they were produced under the Gardner's trademark, and only in 1944 the American changed their name to Lays.
The first deliveries of Lay's chips to Russia were organized in the early 90s. Then, as throughout the world, they gained enormous popularity in the domestic market. Later, in 2002, the first plant in Russia for the production of Lays chips was opened. It still operates successfully in the city of Kashira, Moscow region. Another 8 years later, in 2010, a second plant was opened in the city of Azov, Rostov region. The volume of chips they produce is able to fully cover the demand of buyers in the domestic market.
Chips production technology: from harvesting to packaging
The production of chips is a complex technological process that has its own nuances. Without taking them into account, it will be difficult to get the same product that people all over the world love. The fact is that certain varieties of potatoes are used to make chips. There are 7 of them in total, and only 3 of them are grown in Russia. These potatoes are denser in structure than regular potatoes and contain less starch and sugar. This is why Lays chips do not fall apart when fried, but remain intact and crispy.
The process of producing chips from processing the tubers to obtaining the finished product takes no more than 30 minutes. First, the potatoes coming from the fields are washed in a large drum, then they are peeled and cut into thin slices. Their thickness is no more than 2 mm. After this, the slices go into the deep fryer, where they acquire a special color and crunch. Now the chips need to be thoroughly dried and placed in a drum with aromatic spices. All that remains is to pack the finished product and enjoy your favorite taste. By the way, 1 kg of potatoes yields only 300 g of chips.
Types of Lays chips
There are 3 types of chips produced under the Lays brand, each of which has its own special tastes. Below are their names.
1. Regular (traditional) Lace chips are the same ones with which the production of this potato product began in Russia.
2. Lays Max chips. When cutting them during the production process, special knives with a grooved blade are used. The special shape contributes to better roasting of the chips, making them even crispier and more flavorful.
3. Lays Strong chips. They have a wavy shape, which makes the taste more intense. These are beer chips that are created specifically for lovers of foamy drinks.
Each of the three types has its own range of flavors, which allows each customer to enjoy their favorite potato product.
Lays Potato Chips: Flavors
Regular (traditional) Lace chips are available in the following assortment of flavors:
- "Bacon".
- "With salt".
- "Cheese".
- "Porcini mushrooms with sour cream."
- "Sour cream and herbs."
- "Sour cream and onions."
- "Slightly salted cucumbers."
- "Crab".
They are sold in packs of 35, 80, 150 and 200 grams. Interestingly, Lays Green Onion, Bacon, Salt and Cheese chips are produced the same way around the world. At the same time, such types as “Porcini mushrooms with sour cream”, “Slightly salted cucumbers” and “Crab” are produced only in Russian factories.
The assortment of Lays Max chips is presented in the following flavors: “Charcoal Meat”, “Cheese and Onions”, “BBQ Chicken Wings”. They have an ultra-fluted shape and are especially crispy.
Strong wavy chips, which are produced in Russia, were created specifically as an ideal snack for beer. On the domestic market they are presented in the following flavors: “King prawn”, “Hunter’s sausages” and “Jellied meat with horseradish”.
It should be noted that in some countries, under the Lays Strong brand, chips with other flavors are produced: “Hot Chili”, “Burning Piri-Piri”, “Hellish Wasabi”.
Composition of Lays chips
Chips with different flavors may differ in composition. But in general they contain the following ingredients: potatoes, palm and sunflower vegetable oils,
It is the last component that carries some danger, since it contains salt, sugar, flavoring agents, flavor and aroma enhancers (monosodium glutamate, sodium guanylate, sodium inosinate), and acidity regulators. Of all the presented flavors, the safest in composition are Lays “With Salt” chips, which are made only from potatoes and vegetable oil with the addition of salt.
The nutritional value of the chips is low. 100 grams contain about 6 g of protein, 30 g of fat and 53 g of carbohydrates. The calorie content of chips is 510-520 kcal per 100 g.
Beneficial properties and harm of chips
Chips can't be called useful product. And nutritionists completely agree with this. Their chemical composition And the nutritional value so meager that this product can confidently be considered useless and even harmful.
Photos
Yasya Vogelhardt
The PepsiCo corporation catalog contains about 40 different brands: drinks (“Ya”, Lipton Ice Tea, “Aqua Minerale”, Pepsi, J7, Mirinda), dairy products (“Vesely Milkman”, “Miracle”, “Imunele”), baby food(“Zdrivers”, “Agusha”) and more. At the Frito Lay plant in Kashira near Moscow, the international giant produces snacks - Lay’s and Cheetos chips, Khrusteam crackers (another snack plant is located in Azov). A year ago, The Village visited PepsiCo's production facility near Moscow and saw... This time we went to the Frito Lay factory to learn how chips are made.
Chips production
Chips base - good potatoes. According to the company's calculations, four kilograms of potatoes yield a kilogram of chips. The plant purchases potatoes mainly from Russian suppliers from the Moscow and Tula regions. Employees say that not every potato variety is suitable for making chips. The fruits must be dense in structure and contain a minimum amount of sugar; there are only seven such varieties.
Potatoes enter production in trucks that can transport up to 20 tons of product at a time. Having arrived at the plant, the machine pours the potatoes into a receiving container. An employee inspects the potatoes to see if they are suitable for chips. If the tubers have a lot of green or black spots, such a batch may be sent back to the supplier.
Frito Lay plant
Snack manufacturer
LOCATION:
Kashira, Moscow region
OPENING DATE: 2002
EMPLOYEES: 1,000 people
PLANT AREA: 25 hectares
lays.ru
Potatoes are transported through a conveyor system into bin bins, where the first stage of sorting occurs - cleaning of sprouts and soil. A potato tuber must be from four to nine centimeters in diameter, so very small tubers are rejected and the machine throws them into a separate bag. There are only eight such bins at the plant; each of them can hold 40 tons of potatoes, which are completely processed in four hours.
From the bins, the potatoes go to the next section, where the potatoes are washed and separated from foreign contaminants, stones and chips. Cleaning takes place in a large container - a drum is installed inside it, onto which clean water flows using nozzles. Then they get rid of the peel using a round-shaped device: once inside it, the tubers rotate around the rough walls, and the peel is erased. This happens in just 90 seconds.
After this, the potatoes are washed again in special baths to avoid the slightest particles of peel getting in after peeling. Then they are sorted by size, and especially large tubers are taken to a grader - in which the potatoes are cut into several pieces using round knives. Particularly large potatoes are then cut in half. Sorted tubers go to the inspection table - employees monitor the quality of the product, manually cut pieces missed by the machine or throw away unsuitable ones.
After sorting, the potatoes go through a conveyor system to the next section - a slicer, which cuts the tubers into thin slices: the permissible thickness of one slice is no more than 1.3 millimeters. The slicer has five “heads”, inside of which there are drums with knives - slicers. To prepare corrugated chips, change the knives to wavy ones. Then the slices are moved by a stream of water to the quick washing stage, where they are washed again - this procedure is necessary in order to get rid of excess starch. The starched water goes to a special installation, where the liquid is evaporated, obtaining dry starch. His company collects and sells.
Finally, the slices enter the frying stage, which occurs in a closed container at a temperature of 180 degrees. The chips are in the fryer for only three minutes - during this time each slice is immersed in the hot mixture vegetable oils until ready. At the exit of the machine there are moisture meters that check whether the potatoes are fried enough. If suddenly the potatoes turn out to be raw and poorly fried, the system will signal the operator, and he will be forced to dispose of the batch. The next stage of testing is optical sorting, during which chips with defects are “shot” using nozzles. Only after this is the product sent to the spice application area.
The chips go into a large rotating drum, inside of which seasonings are sprayed. Because the slices are buttery, the seasoning spreads well and sticks to each piece. Herbs (dried parsley, onion or dill), spices, flavorings and salt are used as seasonings in production. All these ingredients are mainly purchased in Russia; they arrive on the conveyor in mixed form. The company says that for some flavors - for example, garlic, tomato and paprika - a powder consisting of chopped vegetables is applied to the chips. Monosodium glutamate and flavorings are also used to enhance the taste. The company clarifies that all flavors are food grade and identical to natural products. “All this is indicated in the composition on the pack,” the employees add.
At the same time, eight different flavors of chips can be made in production. Some flavors are produced only for Russia - for example, “Porcini mushrooms with sour cream”, “Slightly salted cucumbers” and “Crab”. For several years now, the most popular flavor among Russians has been “Young green onions.”
The process of making chips ends when seasoning is applied. The slices first go to a weighing dispenser, and then the mass is fed into an open bag that looks like a sleeve. The former fills the bag with nitrogen and seals it: this way the product can be stored for a long time and not spoil. The cooking time for one batch of chips is just under an hour. After packaging, the packages are put into boxes and sent to a warehouse, from where they are delivered to stores in Russia and the CIS countries.
It is believed that chips originated more than 150 years ago in the United States. Legend has it that in one of the elite American restaurants, a client (railroad magnate Vanderbilt) did not like the restaurant's signature dish, “french fries,” and he returned them to the kitchen, claiming that the potatoes were too thick. The restaurant chef decided to play a trick on the client and cut the potatoes into the thinnest slices and fried them in oil and served them to the table. Surprisingly, the client especially liked the dish, and since then a new dish has appeared on the restaurant menu - chips.
Lay's chips have been produced since 1938. Today, Frito Lay is one of the leading producers of salty snacks both in the world and in Russia. Deliveries of Lay’s chips to Russia began in the mid-90s, and in 2002 the first Frito Lay plant was opened in Kashira, Moscow Region. Now chips are supplied to thousands of stores, as well as restaurants in Moscow and other Russian cities.
(Total 37 photos)
1. The topic of today's report is the PepsiCo plant for the production of Lay's potato chips, which recently opened in the city of Azov, Rostov region. In addition, the plant produces Khrusteam crackers. Let's walk sequentially along the entire production line and look at it in detail.
Unloading, washing and temporary storage of potatoes
2. Nine 20-ton trucks with potatoes are unloaded here every day. The potatoes are transported along a conveyor belt to a washing machine, where recirculated water is used to clean them. There are three such automatic car washes in the world. It is physically impossible to remove the washing process; everything happens in a closed container. After washing, the potatoes are sent for temporary storage to bins - special containers, from where they are supplied to production as needed.
Peeling, sorting and cutting potatoes
3. Before the potato tubers enter a special slicing machine, inspectors visually inspect the tubers moving along the belt and, if necessary, remove visible defects.
4. By the way: Not every potato is suitable for the production of chips. There are so-called chip potato varieties that have a high starch content.
5. All employees undergo periodic medical examinations and have medical records; this is done to ensure that a sick person does not end up at work. In addition, before entering the workshop, everyone must wash their hands.
6. Potatoes are peeled in periodic abrasive drums. First, the required amount of potatoes is loaded into the weighing hopper, after which it is unloaded into the drum.
7. Direct cutting occurs mechanically due to the rotation of the cone-shaped bottom of the drum. Inside the cutting machine are eight pairs of extremely sharp blades that cut the tuber into thin slices. The thickness of each slice is less than two millimeters.
Roasting
8. After cutting, the potato slices enter the very “heart” of the chip production line - the frying bath for frying the slices and producing base chips. This equipment, which has no analogues, was created specifically for the PepsiCo plant and cannot be shown.
9. Thinly sliced potato slices are placed in an oil bath, in which they are fried for three minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius. High-quality oil, like high-quality potatoes, is the basis for the taste of chips.
10. The plant has improved the recipe using a special blend of vegetable oils, including locally produced high-oliline sunflower oil, which reduces the saturated fat content in the final product by 25%.
11. Product quality checks are carried out daily at the plant. They check both basic chips just out of the oven and fully packaged bags.
Adding spices
12. At this stage, special ingredients are added to the fried potato chips. aroma oils and flavorings based on salt.
13. Three flavors can be produced on the line at the same time.
Package
14. By the way: The plant is designed to produce 50 thousand tons of finished products per year. Some fantastic figure, in my opinion.
15. Three conveyors transport ready-made chips to packaging. First, distribution and weighing occurs.
16. By the way: Please note that there are very few workers along the entire length of the line. It uses modern equipment that operates in a fully automated mode. In addition, it is important that as few people as possible come into contact with the finished product.
17. Weighing machines weigh multiple portions simultaneously and calculate the best weight combination that has the most accurate weight to match the standard and the weight stated on the package.
18. If you consider that the net weight of one pack is 28 grams, you can imagine the accuracy of the equipment settings.
19. The weighed portion is unloaded onto the packaging line.
20. The portion is checked for the presence of foreign impurities (metal detector) and ends up in a bag, which by this time has been prepared by a packaging machine from packaging materials (foil). Before sealing the seam, food grade nitrogen is supplied to the bag, which ensures the required shelf life of the product. Weighing and packaging equipment operates synchronously, at speeds of up to 80 bags per minute.
21. The packaged bag of chips is delivered to the operators, who manually fold the bags into carton boxes.
22. Boxes of chips are stacked on pallets and transported to the warehouse.
There is a line parallel to Production of crackers
24. A mixture of flour and water is fed into the extruder, heated and thoroughly mixed. The crackers come out of the extruder in the form of ropes, which are cut to size by rotating knives.
25. The next step is to dry the crackers in the oven and place them on the seasoning area.
26. The packaging line is identical to the one on which chips are produced.
Chips are a high-quality product loved by millions, made from fresh potatoes in the form of the thinnest slices, plates or straws.
Chips are a product that is deep fried and ready to eat. They are used as a dry breakfast, a side dish for fish and meat dishes, or a snack for various drinks. Thick dip sauce goes well with chips.
The creator of modern chips is considered to be George Crum, a chef from the United States who, according to legend, came up with a recipe for French fries back in August 1853. Since then, chips have changed significantly, acquiring new shapes and tastes, but the only correct process for their preparation has remained unchanged for many years.
What are chips made from?
Chips are prepared only from fresh potatoes, otherwise unappetizing dark spots will form on the slices. At the same time, the ratio of potatoes before cooking and at the exit is four kg to 1 kg. Less commonly, other root vegetables fried in oil are used as a base for chips. To make chips, only high-quality potatoes of a certain variety are selected. These potatoes are firm in texture and contain a minimum of sugar. About seven varieties of potatoes with a high starch content are used in the production of chips, including: Lady Rosetta, Hermes and Saturn.
As for the product made from a thin layer of dried mashed potatoes, it should rather be called potato waffles.
Chips production stages
The technological process for the production of chips consists of the following production stages:
- unloading and preparation of raw materials;
- washing and temporary storage of potatoes;
- cleaning, sorting and cutting potatoes;
- roasting;
- adding spices;
- package.
Let's look at each of these stages in more detail.
Unloading and preparation of raw materials
Potatoes are delivered to production by trucks with a capacity of up to 20 tons each. The raw materials unloaded into the receiving container are carefully inspected by the company’s employees, checking their suitability for making chips. When identifying green or dark spot on root crops, the goods are sent back to the supplier.
The inspected potatoes are conveyed along a conveyor belt into so-called bins, which can hold approximately 40 tons of potatoes. Here its primary sorting takes place, cleaning it from greens and sprouts. The criterion for sorting potato tubers is a diameter of four to nine centimeters. Small root crops are deposited separately as rejects. Processing potatoes in bins lasts on average about 4 hours.
Washing and temporary storage of potatoes
At the next stage, the potatoes are separated from foreign debris (chips, stones) and washed. Potato tubers can be washed in a large container with a drum inside. The supply of clean water pressure is established through the nozzles.
Peeling, sorting and cutting potatoes
Peeling potatoes is also an automated process: the peel of the root crop is actually rubbed off against the abrasive walls of a special device in about 90 seconds. This potato peeler can peel about 5 tons of potatoes in just 1 hour.
In order to avoid the ingress of potato peel residues after peeling, the potatoes are washed again. Next, it is sorted by size, as a result of which the largest tubers will be cut into pieces by a grader (a device with built-in large knives). The quality of the sorted product is monitored by employees at the inspection table. Here, the potatoes are corrected for omissions in automatic slicing and parts unsuitable for making chips are removed.
The slicer cuts the potatoes selected by experts into the thinnest slices at the next stage. The permissible slice thickness does not exceed 1.3 millimeters. The slicer design includes “heads” with drums and knives (slicers) inside. No less popular today are “wavy” (corrugated) chips. To prepare them, the knives in the slicer are changed. Under the influence of centrifugal force and sharp heat, the potatoes turn into slices. The root vegetable must be cut into approximately 36 pieces to make regular chips.
The finished slices are again moved by water flow into a tank of water for the washing stage. This step is necessary to remove excess starch from the potatoes. That same starch is then evaporated and sold after going through a special installation.
Roasting
Potato slices are dried under hot air and sent to the frying stage. The ovens and oil are heated to 190 degrees Celsius, so it only takes three minutes to fry the potatoes. When the chips leave the oven along the conveyor, excess oil flows into a special reservoir. If the potatoes are poorly fried, the moisture meter system gives a signal to the operator, who, in turn, sends the entire batch for disposal.
The fried slices are tested again, this time optically. Using nozzles, a high-quality product is sorted from chips with defects, and only after that they move on to the section for adding spices.
Adding spices
The chips are placed in a large drum filled with delicious seasonings. The seasoning perfectly coats each oiled potato slice. To prepare high-quality chips, manufacturers use only natural seasonings: onion, dill, parsley, etc. To create such unique tastes as tomato or garlic, powder made from dried vegetables is applied to the surface of the slices. All flavors used in the chips production process are natural.
Seasoning comes before the final step in chip production - packaging.
Package
Slices of fried potatoes are first weighed and dosed, and then poured into a special bag-sleeve. Before sealing the bag, nitrogen is poured into it, which allows the chips not to spoil and retain their taste much longer. Thus, a pack of chips under production conditions goes through all stages of preparation in about an hour. Bags of chips in boxes are placed in a warehouse, from where they are subsequently delivered to stores.
It should be noted that the production line is fully automated using the latest equipment. This allows you to minimize the contact of people with the finished product.
Thus, we tracked the chips production line from the delivery of raw materials to the placement of finished chips on store shelves and now you know how are chips made.
The heroine of Nadezhda Rumyantseva - Tosya from the legendary film "Girls" could immediately list 15 potato dishes: fried, boiled, mashed potatoes, French fries, pie, pies and pancakes, roll, casserole, stewed with prunes, stewed with bay leaf and pepper, young boiled with dill and so on. We want to talk about one more product, perhaps the most popular in our time - potato chips.
Bigpicture had the opportunity to see with my own eyes absolutely the ENTIRE production process of Lay’s chips - from harvesting to shipment to retail chains. And now we can say with confidence that we know everything about chips! Well, almost everything :)
(Total 20 photos)
But first, a little history. Lay's chips, the production process of which we actually studied, have been produced since 1938. Today, the PepsiCo company (they own the Lay’s brand since 1965) is one of the leading producers of salty snacks both in the world and in Russia. Deliveries of Lay’s chips to Russia began in the mid-90s, in 2002 the first plant was opened in Kashira near Moscow, and in 2010 the company’s second plant was opened in the city of Azov (Rostov region).
1. Bigpiccha arrived with an inspection to one of the agricultural enterprises in the Rostov region.
2. The first and, perhaps, the most important problem that the PepsiCo company faced when opening the production of chips in Russia was the lack of raw materials. Just 10-15 years ago, potato chips were not grown in Russia at all. Farmers supplied only traditional varieties, which were suitable only for cooking, frying, starch production, etc.
3. Few people know this, but all over the world only 7 types of potatoes are suitable for making chips, and only three of them are grown in Russia - “Lady Rosetta”, “Hermes” and “Saturn”. What is the difference between regular potatoes and chips? The latter is much denser in structure, and there is practically no sugar in it. To make it completely clear, when fried, such potatoes do not fall apart, do not darken, but acquire a pleasant golden color. Therefore, if you decide to try making chips at home from ordinary table potatoes, then it is likely that you will end up with just fried potatoes, and not crispy golden slices :)
By the way, did you know that one kilogram of potatoes produces 300 grams of chips? That is, in a regular pack of Lays there are approximately three potato tubers.
4. How are these potato chips grown? Being the largest industrial potato processor in our country, the company initially set a course for maximum localization of production and, since 2002, began implementing its own agricultural program aimed at supporting Russian agricultural producers. And the fact that our agriculture needs to be supported is probably beyond any doubt among any of you.
5. What is the support? In fact, this is a whole range of measures: firstly, farmers are provided with financial assistance (through interest-free loans for the purchase of seed, necessary equipment for growing and storing potatoes).
6. Secondly, assistance is provided with the purchase of high-quality imported potato seeds (as you understand, a very important aspect on which a lot depends). There is a whole team of agricultural specialists who advise farmers in the fields: how to plant, grow, how to properly harvest and preserve the crop, that is, they cover the entire spectrum necessary work. As a result, the average yield from PepsiCo's potato suppliers is 25 tons per hectare, which is almost twice as high as the national average of 13 tons per hectare. Surprised? We are not very good 🙂
7. To ensure that the crop receives as little damage as possible during harvesting, a special device is used - electronic potatoes. This “potato spy” goes straight from the ground (where caring farmers first place it) into the harvester. It is thanks to this device that potato pickers determine whether everything is in order with the crop during harvesting or whether the machine needs to be adjusted so that the potatoes “do not get unnecessary bruises.”
8. Today, more than 85% of potatoes supplied to the company’s factories are grown in Russia. Every year the company purchases more than 250 thousand tons!
9. And, of course, it’s worth mentioning about people. After all, as you know, no matter how much money you invest, if there are no qualified personnel on the ground, then all your efforts will be in vain. That is why PepsiCo has developed a program to support agricultural higher education, which started back in 2008. As part of this program, students are encouraged to study agricultural specialties, and the best of them are given grants.
10. Then the harvested potatoes are brought to the factory, where they are unloaded in such a cunning way. Nine 20-ton trucks of potatoes are unloaded here every day! And up to 50 thousand tons of chips are produced here per year (that’s about 4,000 African elephants).
11. It then travels along a conveyor belt to a washing machine, where recirculated water (water that is reused in the process cycle) is used to clean it. And after washing, it goes for temporary storage in bins - special containers, from where it is supplied to production as needed.
12. The 3 main stages are clearly shown: cleaning, cutting and frying. As you can see, everything is as simple as possible and nothing superfluous. Absolutely natural product.
13. Immediately after cutting, the potato slices are frying to form basic chips.
14. Once cooked, the chips take on one of Lay’s unique flavors. By the way, the brand’s portfolio includes both international bestsellers that are sold all over the world (salt, cheese, bacon, green onions) and flavors that can only be bought in Russia (crab, pickled cucumber, porcini mushrooms with sour cream).
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