Skinny Chips Are No Hit

April or not, members of The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel are no fools.

Oh, we tried to pull the wool, er, olestra over their eyes with the new WOW! potato chips from Lay’s, which use the controversial fat replacer.

But panelists easily picked the fat-free impostors out of a lineup that also included regular Lay’s and reduced-fat baked Lay’s — no big feat, we discovered, as the olestra chips are noticeably smaller than the others.

While the WOW! chips were termed relatively tasteless, thanks to a few fans they still won a narrow second place over the large, squarish baked Lay’s. The baked chips, formed from dehydrated potatoes, were crisp but even less flavorful. And although regular Lay’s chips were the clear fav-orite, by the time we got to them, some tasters found them almost too greasy.

OK, we know what you’re thinking by now. And, no, there were no, er, digestive difficulties to report from the fake fat, so far as we’re aware.

As for financial considerations, the olestra chips were half again as expensive as regular Lay’s, at 40 cents per ounce compared to 26 cents. But Procter & Gamble keeps the retail price about the same by putting the WOW! chips in a smaller bag. (Who’s fooling whom?)

We had better luck being tricky with a trio of chicken nuggets - or, rather, a duo of chicken nuggets and Morningstar Farms’ meatless Chik Nuggets, made from soy protein and wheat.

To our devious delight, the Chik Nuggets were judged the best of a bad lot, although several panelists suspected there was something fishy about them - literally, according to a few folks who guessed that they actually contained fish, not fowl.

While there was real bird in the Banquet and Maple Leaf Farms offerings, panelists were appalled at the taste and texture. (In all fairness, since we microwaved the nuggets, none were at their peak of crispness.) With selections like that, sometimes they think we’re trying to fool them just by calling it the “food” panel.

Lay’s Classic Potato Chips

Price: $1.93 for 7-1/2 ounces.

Nutrition: 150 calories (60 percent fat calories); 180 milligrams sodium per ounce.

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments: “A good chip. Made with real oil.” - Bob Bates

“Greasy and salty … what a chip should be.” - Mark Barrett

Lay’s WOW! Fat-Free Potato Chips

Price: $1.99 for 5 ounces.

Nutrition: 75 calories (no fat); 180 milligrams sodium per ounce.

Taste: ***

Value: **

Comments: “Flavorless with capital letters!” - Eileen Bakken

“Cute, small and round. Thicker than normal potato chips, but offer little flavor. Might as well eat the real thing, just less of it.” - Beth Kowal

Baked Lay’s Potato Crisps

Price: $3.39 for 10 ounces.

Nutrition: 110 calories (14 percent fat calories); 150 milligrams sodium per ounce.

Taste: ***

Value: **

Comments: “Odd shapes … dry, would eat lots searching for that ‘real’ potato chip taste.” - Karen Buck

“Looks kind of like mutant Pringles - preformed and reformed.” - Sandy Davidson

Morningstar Farms Chik Nuggets

Price: $2.81 for 10.5 ounces (about 14 nuggets).

Nutrition: 160 calories (25 percent fat calories); 670 milligrams sodium in 4 nuggets.

Taste: **

Value: **

Comments: “Texture of ground and pressed meat, but tastes like fish.” - Jeannie Coffey

“Dry, yet greasy. Tastes absolutely nothing like chicken - it tastes like a sponge dipped in onion powder. Might be pretty good if you were starving and drunk.” - Catherine Lunt Greer

Banquet Chicken Nuggets

Price: $2.99 for 13.5 ounces (about 27 nuggets).

Nutrition: 270 calories (63 percent fat calories); 540 milligrams sodium in 6 nuggets.

Taste: **

Value: **

Comments: “I usually use my kitchen sponge at the sink - not for dinner!” - Beverly Smick

“Peppery coating. Chopped and formed, looks like sawdust. I could become a vegetarian after this!” - Tina Johnson

Maple Leaf Farms Crunchy Chicken Nuggets

Price: $1.67 for 10 ounces (about 20 nuggets).

Nutrition: 270 calories (48 percent fat calories); 670 milligrams sodium in 8 nuggets.

Taste: *

Value: **

Comments: “Bad aftertaste! Awful! Looks like chicken on the inside, but you would need to use a whole bottle of barbecue sauce to make it taste halfway good.” - Ann Finke

“Tastes bad, looks bad, smells bad … the best sauce in the world won’t help this stuff.” - Helen Span

, DataTimes