Peel Back & Pig Out - Tostitos Chips & Cheese Dip Snack Kit - Brief Article

Nutrition Action Healthletter, April, 2000

"Ready in 40 seconds," boasts the front of the Tostitos Chips & Cheese Dip Snack Kit.

That's right. Just 40 seconds until you can dig into a 480-calorie snack that supplies 31 grains of fat and 1,090 mg of sodium (nearly half a day's worth of both), plus a third of a day's artery-clogging fat--the kind that can make your blood flow sort of like, say, microwaved cheese dip.

As snacks go, fried tortilla chips like Tostitos are bad enough. They're just the kind of calorie-dense food that most American bellies and behinds could do without.

But Frito-Lay now makes it easier to pad your fat cells. It packs the Tostitos into a non-recyclable plastic tray (a challenge for the nation's landfills) and throws in a cup of cheese-dip concoction (a challenge for the nation's cardiac-care units).

The Chips & Salsa Snack Kit has far less saturated fat (replace cheese with salsa and that's what happens). But at 300 calories, it's hardly a diet food.

Who needs fruits, vegetables, and other healthy snacks when you can just peel back the plastic cover and pig out?