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Potato chips turn 150 this year

They're STILL not good for your waistline

Potato chips are a whole lot like those disreputable guys — or girls — mom used to warn us about.
We know they are bad for us, yet we can’t help ourselves. We’re drawn to them time and time again, savoring the momentary pleasure they offer even though we know no good will come of it.

At 150, you’re still the temptress you were in your youth.
Covered with salt, loaded with fat and virtually devoid of nutritional value, the ubiquitous chip continues to captivate full-bodied Americans who eat about $6 billion worth — that’s 6.6 pounds per person — annually.
What is it about potato chips that creates such slavish devotion, such gluttonous indulgence?
“It’s just a neat combination of fat and salt,” says dietitian Ginger Patterson, who admits to the occasional craving herself.
Like so many treacherous food characters, potato chips appear harmless, but they represent the potato in its least nutritious form, says Brie Turner-McGrievy, dietitian with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C.
A seven-ounce baked potato has 220 calories (3 percent from fat) and contains five grams of fiber plus vitamin C, potassium, iron and other nutrients. By comparison, one and one-half ounces of chips have the same number of calories, but 60 percent come from fat. There’s a single gram of fiber in a serving and little or no vitamins.