US vs UK Lay’s Chips and Walkers Crisps | Food Wars

Harry: From calorie counts to portion sizes, we wanted to find out all the differences between Lay's and Walkers in the US and UK. This is "Food Wars." We'll start with a quick note to explain their different names. Walkers used to be its own company and was the most popular crisp brand in the UK. Frito-Lay acquired Walkers in 1989, but decided to continue using the brand in the UK so that all that brand loyalty wouldn't go to waste. In the UK, Walkers

crisps

come in five serving sizes. One 25 gram multipack bag, one 32.5 gram bag, one 45 gram bag, one 65 gram bag, and one 175 gram share bag.

The smallest one in the multipack bag is 28 grams. Then we moved on to a 78 gram bag, a 226 gram bag, and then our party size bag, which is 368 grams. That means our largest bag is 110% larger than the largest bag in the UK. Some other things to keep in mind. In the UK, if you buy a flavored bag, it weighs the same weight as the already salted version. While in the US, our flavored bags weigh less than the original flavored bags. Grab this bag of salt and vinegar

chips

. It weighs 7.75 ounces, compared to the classic 8-ounce salty bag.

In 2014, PepsiCo stated that the reason the price per ounce of flavored

chips

is slightly higher is the added seasoning. Well, before we continue, they tell us: "It weighs less, it costs more because we add more seasonings." Right, guys? Well, I have a question for you, PepsiCo. What does that say there? It says "lightly salty." So I understand this has less salt than these guys? Hey. Closer inspection: right there, 7 3/4 ounces. Not the full 8. If there is less seasoning and salt here, why is it a smaller ounce and a higher price? They're stealing my salt! Salt, literally the cheapest thing on the planet.

We have an entire ocean full of it and yet they still skimp on it! Your move, PepsiCo. This 28-gram bag of chips supposedly contains 15 chips, according to Lay's website. Well, they lied about salt, what else are they lying about? I'm going to count the chips in this 25 gram bag for comparison. These chips are shot down. I feel like it's more than 15. This is what we call the stoner math section of "Food Wars." We do the math so stoners don't have to. Alright. So one, two. That's all. Small peephole. Absolute Frankenstein of a crisp, this. You could say that there is not a single chip assembled here.

Well, just... that's a chip, that's a chip, right? So the problem is that the fries are very different sizes. Like this one, just a crunchy one, but it's small, while this one, also crunchy, but much bigger. And we ended up with 22. Of all the arbitrary things we do on this show, this has to be the most arbitrary. Wow, look at that, everyone! They gave me an extra chip. 16 instead of 15. The last thing we wanted to check was how much air gets into your bags. Walkers in the UK are known for seemingly underfilling their bags. Let's find the volume of the bag and then the volume of the chips inside to find out how much wasted space there is.

What I have to do is carefully open the bag enough to let the air out, and then I'll try to powder them, like squish them as much as I can, and then measure the volume of the powder in this. stuff. I have to break it down first. Crushing bags with Harry. Oh, this is like... It's quite therapeutic. It feels like you're giving a massage. It's like the worst massage in the world. I need something to crush it, because the air is trapped in there, so I'll use, oh, I don't know, this pair of nunchucks! Oh yeah!

Now, the second step will be to find the volume of the bag. So we're going to fill the bag with water to try to find the volume. Oh God. Oh. A little more. Perfect. Sarah: Okay. We did it! But now I have to get it in there without spilling it everywhere. Three, two, one, let's go. sarah: Oh, that's perfect! Harry: Look at that! That went pretty well. We don't spill water everywhere. Oh my gosh, it's right at the top. It's crazy how it worked out. OK. Buchi and Wumi return triumphant. Go watch the Oreos episode if you haven't already.

Some of that and then measure the rest. You brought number two! Oh God. Can you see the pieces of things floating around? So, according to my trusted friend PercentageCalculator.net, about 90% of a 25 gram Walkers bag is wasted space. I don't know what the math is I'm supposed to figure out, I forgot, but whoever is editing this, take all those numbers and this is the conclusion. Now, that air is actually there for a reason. It is nitrogen gas, which helps preserve the chips and also acts as a cushion to prevent them from breaking during transport. I mean, imagine what it would be like if it didn't have all that air in there.

So as much air as there is in there, it's actually vitally important. If anything, they should put more air in these things, because they turn into dust. Powdered! Here are all the Walkers products from the UK that you won't find in the US. And here are everything you can only get in the US and not the UK. I'm losing my mind, come on! I want to start with a couple of linguistic/stylistic differences more than anything else. For example, in the UK we call our Walkers Classic Ready Salted, rather than Original. I think this is a reference to the old days of chips, where what you actually got was just a bag of chips and then you had to add your own salt.

These are ready salted. No need to add salt, it's already there. One stylistic difference worth noting is that in the UK, our salt and vinegar chips are green. I will say Walkers is the only brand that does that. And then we move on to some real signature flavors. We'll start with this one, which is cheese and onion. Now, Americans don't eat cheese and onion, which might surprise some Brits because it's one of the most popular flavors here. Instead, I think they have cheddar cheese, sour cream, sour cream, and onion. It just ruins your breath. Your breath smells so bad after this.

How did I get so lucky? I love chips, I love different flavors, I love trying new varieties and I hate paying for them. So this is perfect for me. I'm going to start with a flavor I've never heard of, jalapeño cheddar. Oh Lord! I like the touch of these. It reminds me of cheddar cheese and sour cream, which I can't believe you guys don't have. This flavor became popular about 20 years ago and I don't know why it's so good, but it's good! I love this flavor. However, if I had to rank them, I would put the jalapeño on top of that, the cheddar cheese, and the sour cream.

Sour cream and onion, I don't even have to open them. Sour cream and onion, classic flavor. I mean, barbecue in America is amazing. I mean, this is just a classic, classic flavor. Oh man. Fantastic. But how does that compare to sweet Southern barbecue? Southern heat! Oh yeah. I put these on top of these. Then we had barbecue with honey. How sweet is this one going to be? You became greedy for sweetness. Oh, chili and lime. Yes friend. I had never tried them before. Chiles and limes. Check it out? Chiles, limes. Fantastic combination. Oh, I don't know how I feel about this.

It's like I didn't like them before, but now I can't stop eating them. Another iconic British flavor that is also unique is prawn cocktail. The British became very obsessed with prawn cocktail in the 70s, I think. It became somewhat of a fad to serve it at dinner parties. I'm not mad about it, because it's really tasty. It just tastes like tomato, because it was usually served with a combination of tomato mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce. Next we have one of my favorites, which are Marmite

crisps

. God, I love Marmite. Marmite is fantastic. The slogan was, "You either love it or you hate it," and I think that still rings true for most people.

I am firmly in the camp of love. A little flavor from the amount of salt that's in there. Fantastic crispy. Harry was kind enough to send me some of his UK exclusives, which I'm going to check out right now. Where do I want to start? I guess it all starts... oh, no. Pot. I don't understand why people love Marmite. Yuck! I mean, it tastes exactly like ass. I hear millennials like that, so maybe it's a selling point for them. They should actually say, "It tastes like ass," because kids like that nowadays, but I don't. Then we have a couple of meat options, which I'm surprised you don't have in the United States.

We seem to love combining fries and meat, starting with these roast chicken fries. Another meaty option is these, which are smoked bacon. Then we have these, which are ketchup flavored Walkers. In my opinion, shrimp cocktail makes ketchup better than ketchup. And then for the last of our standard crunchy flavors, we have pickled onion. Pickled onion is another thing that is an icon of British culture, in the same way that perhaps prawn cocktail or Marmite are, simply because it is quite traditional to find a large jar of pickled onions or pickled eggs in pubs, and you'd have one of those as a bar snack while you drink your pint.

The complaint I often have against gherkins and pickled onions is that they are not spicy enough. And these are very spicy, so good job, Walkers. Pickled onion. What does that mean? Puckers? As ? Like a pickled onion kisses me? These suck! Hey Joe, can I try some of those? Hey Harry, try some of these great American flavors! Thank you! Let's start with the lemon. That's what I have in my hand. Oh, those have lemon in them! Phew! I don't think I've ever had a citrus crisp before. That's not something we have in the UK. Those are good.

I must say that I love these fries. Yes. I have to get a bag of these. Lay's Chesapeake Bay Crab Seasoning. Uh oh! Yuelei: No? Yes, no, these are bad. Put them at the bottom. These are at my 7-Eleven. Tomato and chili flavored chips, which sound amazing. I'm going to pronounce this wrong. Sabritas? Marinated. "Made in Mexico." Oh yes, friend! Not so spicy. They remind me a little of Takis. Look how red this is. Don't you think they would be super spicy? I like that. These chip brands are chasing each other. In reality it is like a guerrilla war.

You guys don't understand what's going on in our grocery stores in this country. This is an uneasy mafia alliance in Chip City. No. Because when it is thin like these, the flavor stands out more, if that makes sense, and it is too strong. It turns out that if you put Doritos Cool Ranch seasoning on anything, it will taste good. Dill pickle. So I hate pickles. Phew. I hate them! Place them at the end of each list. I don't know what Flamin' Hot pickle chips taste like, but regular pickle chips are absolutely disgusting. These sound phenomenal. Flamin' Hot Potato Chips with a pickle flavor.

Match made in heaven for me. You get the heat, you get that little bit of flavor to cut through it. If I could take one of these four and have them permanently in the UK, these would be them. One thing that Walkers use a lot in the UK is promotional flavours. Currently what they have going on is partnering with four different restaurants from around the UK to showcase some different cuisines. That means we now have Fish and Chips Walkers, Madras Curry Walkers, Thai Green Curry Walkers and Chicken Burrito Walkers. At one point they made a Cajun squirrel flavor.

I'm not making this up. This one looks very good. Thai green curry? I think I'm going to like this. Gross. Gross! Classify them. Fish and French fries. OK. I like fish and chips. hold on. It smells like cat

food

. Now I can't stop thinking about dry cat

food

. Alright. I like fish and chips. This is the worst. Are - . I'm going to vomit. Crown it. This is the worst chip I have ever eaten, the worst chip I have ever reviewed and it might be the worst thing I have ever tasted. I feel like I'm on a prank show. "We farted in a bag, gotcha!" Like, oh, you know, like: in the UK, Walkers has a range of baked crisps, which I guess are marketed as a healthier option.

They come in four flavors: salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, sour cream and onion, shrimp cocktail. We also have oven fried potato options, and one baked flavor that you can get here that you can't get in the UK is this, oven roasted. In addition to baked ones, there are also other healthier options for fans of Lay's fries. It is known as the Better for You range of crisps and you cannot get them in the UK. You can get them here in the US, including these, the aforementioned lightly salted chips. In addition to these, you can get lightly salted barbecue, lightly salted wavy, simply thick cut sea salt, and simply thick cut barbecue.

If you like crispy fries, Lay's tooIt has what you need. They have their Kettle Cooked series. Here are four of the flavors I could find. Original. Flamin' hot. Do you want me to open this? These are very red. These win the prize for the reddest chip. Look how red they are. Like my eyes. Ah! I like the flavor of these, but they are not very spicy. Oh wait, yes, they are. Oh yeah. Oh man, the kettle cooked jalapeno. I think this whole fries thing was just a ruse to go after Miss Vickie. Yes. They are very similar.

And I love those Miss Vickie's fries. Sea salt and vinegar. Sea salt and ground pepper. Other Kettle Cooked flavors that I couldn't get my hands on include mesquite barbecue, Maui onion (oh, I would have loved those), and of course, the reduced-fat original. I'm sorry. We'll start with this one, which is Max Punchy Paprika. Now, I'm surprised you guys don't have more paprika-flavored potato chips in America, because they taste really good. I like how they have a "not actual size" warning on this bag, in case you thought a crispy potato was also the size of your head.

Next we have the Sizzling Flame-Grilled Steak Max Fries. Now, these interest me. These are Max Crisps and they taste KFC Zinger Double Crispy. I think in the UK we have a kind of hot chicken sandwich at KFC called the Zinger burger, and they supposedly taste like that. Little Guy Fieri burns on the chip. Yes, pretty good. Look, the flavor isn't very strong, but they're not kidding about the double crunch. This is like, "I'm a man! I want to push my abs to the max! Bleh!" For example, if Zinger fries somehow weren't enough KFC for you, then we also have a sort of standard KFC Max fries.

Next up we have is this Fiercely Flamin' Hot flavor. Then we have some Max Strong crisps, which I think are Walkers' attempt to market to a fairly specific demographic, which is mostly men, a bit older and more of a lad type. And underneath it says "perfect with beer." Like... Putting the marketing aside for a second, they come in three flavors: spicy chicken wings, spicy peri-peri, and jalapeño cheese. So our last three Max flavors are these three, which are loaded with cheddar and onion, bold barbecue ribs and XXL chicken and chorizo ​​flavor. You can also get Lay's Wavy chips, which is their blatant rip-off of Ruffles.

And with Wavys, they come in original reduced-fat flavors; originals, which I think are these: I brought the ranch! Hickory BBQ, salt and pepper, and lightly salted, and one that I think is limited, because it says on the bag. Look what I found. I don't even think Harry knows I have these. Wavys Carnitas Street Tacos. Oh yeah. Wow, it smells good. Oh, it smells really good, actually. Uh oh. These are not so good. Trying to get flavored carnitas, onion, cilantro and lime all in one chip is very difficult. Nice effort guys, nice try, but I mean... Next we have Sensations, which is Walkers' slightly more sophisticated range of crisps.

They come with this very elegant black packaging. They have the kind of slightly fancier flavor descriptions. So the classic Sensations come in four flavors, which are as follows: I got this one, which is hickory smoked cheddar and bacon. This one, which is roast chicken and thyme, is my favorite. And we have this one, which is balsamic vinegar and caramelized onion. And in the end, a crowd favorite is the Sensations Thai Sweet Chili. Now, finally, Sensations also offers these Poppadoms with Lime and Coriander Chutney. Also in the United States you can get something called Stax, which is this.

It's not so much, I don't think, about unique flavors, it's just a different container of chips. Clearly, Lay's is going after Pringles. I mean, everyone's chasing each other. These chip brands, man, they are ruthless. Let's find out how good a job Stax does at protecting chips from it. Did that really do a good job of protecting these chips? They are still there, some of them are broken. Oh, ranch chicken wings. Alright. Xtra Flamin' Hot, Yuelei. Ready to upload it? I'm sure you're joking. These are not spicy at all. Wow, big disappointment. That's Xtra Flamin' Hot and this is Flamas Xtreme.

But different colors and it is worded differently. Jesus. If you saw this color in nature, you are in trouble. Turn around and run. Hot Lemon Chili. It's like, how can we make our fries worse for the taste buds and worse for the environment? Ta-da. Stax were born. Avoid. Other flavors I couldn't get at the time of filming this: Bacon Cheddar Potato Skins, Mesquite Barbecue, and Flamas. Poppables, which is them chasing Doritos 3D, and Doritos 3D were just Doritos chasing Bugles. They have four flavors. I got all four. I can not believe it. Those flavors are sea salt, sea salt and vinegar.

Hi how are things?! Salty! Honey BBQ. White cheese. I don't want to try them at all, but I feel like I should. What is this? It's like a small chip capsule. What is the point of this? I don't like Poppables. We have Stax in the UK, but they are marketed under the Doritos brand rather than the Walkers brand. We also used to have Poppables, but they seem to have been discontinued recently. That being said, we have many other unique snacks marketed under the Walkers brand. We'll start with Wotsits, which I think are like our equivalent of Cheetos.

We used to get Cheetos in the UK, but then they were taken off the shelves. Basically what we have are these baked cheesy puff pastry sandwiches. The standard flavor is cheese, which here is blue, but they also come in Flamin' Hot form. And you can get both flavors, either in a small version or a giant version. Next up is Monster Munch, which is a kind of puffed corn, monster claw-shaped corn snacks. And you can season them with pickled onion, roast beef, or Flamin' Hot, which unfortunately I couldn't find today. Like Wotsits, you can get them in regular size or jumbo size.

Next we have Quavers. They are like a thin, puffed and curly snack, and usually come flavored with cheese, but are also available in salt and vinegar versions or as a shrimp cocktail. And finally we have Squares. The squares are these very thin fries, as you can imagine, square in shape. Very crispy, usually quite tasty. I quite like those. And they come in salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, or already salted. Lay's also makes sauces. Creamy jalapeño, smooth ranch sauce, and of course, French onion. Yuelei says cheddar cheese and sour cream. Yeah, that's really good. We also have a couple of fresher options sold under the Walkers brand in the UK which unfortunately we couldn't get our hands on today.

These include potato chips, cornets and mixes. Are there any questionable ingredients to look out for in your Lay's and Walkers chips? As for the basic salty version of Lay's potato chips, we're good. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, they are simply made up of potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. But when you venture into other flavors, things can get a little more interesting. For example, in the UK, several of our flavors contain potassium chloride. In normal doses, this is a perfectly safe, low-sodium alternative to salt. However, it is also one of three ingredients used in the three-drug cocktail for lethal injections.

Enough potassium chloride in your system will cause irregular heartbeats and cardiac arrest. We don't have that in our USA Lay's, but we do have caramel color in our barbecue and honey barbecue chips. Ah, caramel color. It is a widely used food coloring and also a source of controversy. Certain caramel-colored types may contain a byproduct called capital 4-Me I. That's not an L. Studies show it caused cancer in rats and mice, leading to campaigns supporting its ban in food. Makes sense. The FDA stopped short of banning it, saying humans don't approach the levels of exposure that caused the rats' tumors.

It sounds like a challenge. But that didn't stop the state of California from adding it to its list of Proposition 65 chemicals, quote: "Known to the state of California to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity," end quote. Another fun thing to note is that our smoked bacon and rotisserie chicken fries are actually vegetarian friendly. The flavoring is simply made up of other things and does not include any meat extracts. Which country has the least healthy French fries? Let's compare the classic first. A 28-gram bag of classic Lay's in the United States contains 160 calories. If we expand the 25 gram UK bag to account for those extra 3 grams, 28 grams of UK salty food would contain 147 calories.

So on a per gram basis, UK crisps are healthier across the board. Okay, that's fine, but what about the unhealthiest chip in each country? Here, many of them are 160 calories per 28-gram bag, but we found that of the 160-calorie chips, the highest fat content is found in cheddar cheese and sour cream. Obviously the smaller bags. That makes them the least healthy. The unhealthiest fries in the UK are Strong Hot Chicken Wings Max fries. 28 grams of these would contain... Honestly, my main takeaway is that potato chips might not be as unhealthy as I thought. You could eat like 10 multiple bags of salty stuff and the only daily limit you would have exceeded would be your fat intake.

Yes, Harry, I think that's called death by delight. I live by the motto: "Live fast, die fat and leave a salty corpse." Actually, that's my LinkedIn headline. Have you ever seen that thing where if you look at the KFC logo, it looks like the body of a stick man with the head of Colonel Sanders? Is there anything worse than when you're hungry and you say, "I'm going to try something new," and it stinks? You don't even stop being hungry because you're full. You're not hungry anymore because it tasted so bad. Ugh, that's the worst. That's this.

I don't know if XXL refers to the fries, the size of the package, or the chickens they are using. Look how red that chip looks. As .