Review: Flat Earth Crisps

The new TV commercial for Flat Earth Crisps proudly announces there is 1/2 serving of fruits or vegetables in every 1oz portion. It really gives the impression that Flat Earth chips are healthy. The woman featured on the commercial is quite thin, healthy looking, and attractive which furthers the idea. While a healthier chip would be nice, I was skeptical and decided to check things out for myself.

First, I stopped by their website and this is what greeted me on the front page...

"Hello. Welcome to FLAT EARTH®. Where nutritious and delicious have finally come together. In fact, they’re friends. Sound impossible? Well, at Flat Earth, we believe you can do anything if you set your mind to it. Like combine nutrition with real chip taste.

That’s right, there’s a half serving of fruits or veggies baked into every ounce of our delicious crisps. They’re not impossible, they’re IMPOSSIBLY GOOD®."

After stopping by the nutrition pages for the various Flat Earth flavors, the main word that should be focused on is IMPOSSIBLE and certainly not NUTRITION. Instead of the combination of nutrition and taste, all I found was the combination of marketing spin and bull. Flat Earth chips are no healthier or more nutritious than plain old Lay's Classic Potato Chips or even the epitome of snack food decadence–the Chili Cheese Frito.


Flat Earth Chips
Serving Size 1oz. (28g/About 12 Crisps)
Amount Per Serving Calories 130
Total Carbohydrate 19g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 3g
Protein 2g

Chili Cheese Fritos
Serving Size 1oz. (28g/About 31 Chips)
Amount Per Serving Calories 160
Total Carbohydrate 15g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 1g
Protein 2g

Lays Classic Potato Chips
Serving Size 1oz. (28g)
Amount Per Serving Calories 150
Total Carbohydrate 15g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 0g
Protein 2g

You can see by the nutrition information that both the Fritos and the Lays have fewer carbohydrates than the Flat Earth chips. Carbohydrates are what fuel obesity and Flat Earth Chips have plenty. Even if calories are your main focus, there isn't much difference between the three. Flat Earth may be marketing it's chips as a health food, but as a division of Frito-Lay, of one of the largest pushers of carbohydrates on the planet, they are just delivering more of the same old same old.

I have no problem with any company creating new snack foods. Flat Earth Chips are just another new offering in the already crowded snack food market. What they are not is a nutritious alternative to unhealthy traditional munchies. Tricking people in to thinking they are is pretty despicable. Will there ever be a good-tasting, truly healthy chip with the "crunch and appeal of the seasoned fried potato"? Maybe...when pigs fly.

View the commercial