LONDON, England / The Guardian / Life & Style / Food & Drink / September 1, 2010
Britain's unhealthy obsession with potato crisps
They're fried in fat and smothered in salt, but still we eat a heart-stopping 6bn packets of them a year. So why do we have an unhealthy obsession with potato crisps, asks Jon Henley?
We eat an awful lot of crisps. They are a national obsession. Practically everyone has a favourite flavour, or an unexpected craving, while even those who don't like them feel strongly – worrying, as chef Jamie Oliver has done very publicly, that this very British habit is doing untold damage to the health of the nation, particularly its children.
And when you consider we get through an estimated 6bn packets of crisps and 4.4bn bags of savoury snacks a year – around 150 packets a person – you do wonder what our love affair with crisps is doing to us. Looked at by tonnage, we consume more crisps, crackers and nuts than any other European country. British Heart Foundation's warning about the health risks of eating too many crisps.
Extracts. Read the complete report in The Guardian
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
