Did you perhaps get a partially filled bag of chips? What is the package weight on the bag? Try verifying that w/ a kitchen scale?

lets get back in focus here, WERE THEY GOOD?

With the insistence upon cutting costs, I would think that reducing package size and materials used would be quite possible, as "settling" down to such an amount is hardly rational. Then again, that would make people think they get less, because people shop with their eyes.

I think I will stick to Pringles.

This would never happen if he had bought Pringles. Then again, then he wouldn't be buying chips if he were buying Pringles.

@Saydur: Ahhhh yah beat me to the Pringles joke...

I once bought one of those multi-packs of several bags of chips. Two of the bags turned out to be completely empty, just inflated with air.

I shake bags of chips before I buy them ...I have a weird theory that if they rattle too much, there's just too much air.

could be the government's way to protect us from ourselves...preventing us from taking in too many calories...saving us from heart disease. eh?

I really love how the name is "Garden of Eatin'"

I want to know what the supposed weight on the bag is.

I;ve gad an empty bag appear in those 12 packs of fritos a few years ago. Completely empty bag of seal doritos.

In the olden days, they put a small amount of chips in a small package, and a large amount of chips in a large package.

They may argue "chips are sold by weight, not volume" but it's all BS hocus-pocus.

@corinthos: They make seal doritos?! Are they brown/grey and nacho-blubber flavored?

I jest. But seal doritos sounds funny.

I went to their website - its a 9 oz bag. Funny thing is serving size is 15 chips , and on the nutritional info it says servings per bag varies.

It's not air, it's nitrogen used to cushion the bag...

...and hide the effects of the Grocery Shrink Ray.

its an echo-testing device.

@Nick1693: The chips were banished for eating an apple.

I could be wrong but I believe they put a lot of air in the bag in order to keep the chips from getting crushed. They don't want to have a customer open a bag of crushed chips and take a picture of it to put on consumerist.com. Bet they're kicking themselves now, eh?

I tried zooming in on the bag but I couldn't read the weight. I work for a snack manufacturer, and by gauging the size of the bag in relation to the size of the poster's hand, I would say that was a 6 to 8oz bag and there is no way that is 6 to 8oz of chips. If the product was run on a automated packing machine, there should have been a check-weigher to reject any underweight bags. Obviously this one got past.

@pecan pi: Yeah I realized that right after I posted. I'd try them.

We just purchased a package of Garden of Eatin' spicy purple chips and the bag was packed full. Of course, that was the large format bag; I always find these snack sizes to be a rip off.

Think how healthy we'll be eating Zero Calorie Packs.

Why do you think they put "50% less fat" on the front of the bag?

We dont buy many chips but when we do we always try to get them at Costco or BJ's because not only are the bags huge, they are more often than not actually full of chips.

The other best bet ( if you live in the NE) is Market Basket brand chips. They are insane cheap, the bags are large, they are full to the top and they are actually good.

Hey, they say the contents may settle. :)

Excerpted from the packaging:

"Product measured by weight. Contents may settle during shipping."

And in the list of ingredients:

"Corn, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, salt, depleted uranium."

Once they replace the corn with cement, they can make it a more efficient eating experience. Same weight, less chips.

@Coles_Law: I see what you did there.

@STrRedWolf: Nitrogen also helps the chips keep their color and keeps them from getting stale.

@reflection717: It's not air, it's dry nitrogen that keeps the chips from getting stale.

@STrRedWolf:...and hide the effects of the Grocery Shrink Ray.

Mental note, only buy snacks that come in transparent packages.

/mmm pork rinds

they are made from witty-bitty taters and weighed on tiny scales.

Make your own. It's brain-dead easy and they (surprise!) taste a lot fresher. Alton Brown wrote in one of his books, that he did the math and figured that it costs him $0.22 to make the same amount of potato chips contained in a "large" bag.

That's genuine organic air in there. And given how loose the USDA standards for 'organic' are, it may be the only truly organic thing in there. So be grateful!

Garden of eating? Really?

Organic air, that sounds really gross is that same air that comes from cows and is bad for the ozone.@oldtaku:

I bought a bag of chips from Winco for 98 cents, so I wasn't expecting much (it was a full-size bag) but I didn't expect to see a vending machine bag's worth of chips inside. Still, I didn't exactly overpay, and they were jalapeno-y delicious!

@nicemarmot617: Thanks for the tip, now I'll know to shake the bag before I put one in my kid's lunchbox for school. I would hate to have him sit down for lunch and be like "Sandwich... nom nom nom... Fruit... nom nom nom...Oh, my favorite part of all - chips... nom nom nothing?"

Sometimes I wonder, is the packaging not more expensive than the product? If so, just fill it up, FTW.

@pecan pi:
Have'em with your club sandwich...

@humphrmi:What? BS hocus-pocus?
Id like you to explain that one please.

You know, today I went to my local 24-hour grocery, Paul's Market, here in Queens, NY. While the deli guy was slicing and dicing up my cold cuts, I mosied on over to the chips section to see what they had on 99-cent special (you know, they slap the 99cent sticker on a bag of chips even though the MSRP might be 1.29 or 1.49). The brand they usually do it with is Utz (hey, I don't name 'em, I just know 'em). Now, I've been watching Utz use their powerful GSR on their bags and we are now down to 3.75 ounces. I am old enough to remember when a bag was a bag (I think they were 7 ounces if memory serves). Now, I don't know about you, but while I can and do eat a pint of HD or B&J's Ice Cream and will be very satisfied afterwards, the GSR hit that HD took to go to what, 14 ounces, ok, is probably not a big deal in the practical side of things (but still slimy in the GSR way), this GSR to 3.75 is ridiculous. I'd have to buy 2 bags to even think about being saying I had some chips while watching a movie. More like 3 bags to be able to remember eating them. I was thinking of writing in as just a FTR story about it, but after seeing this story about the empty bag, I felt it was duty to report it. Pretty soon we'll be paying them to not eat their chips.

I don't buy the Frito-Lay brands so they aren't an option (for those who haven't read my other posts, I go out of my way to avoid patronizing companies that sponsor - think naming rights - college bowl games, other events, and stadiums). The Wise brand weren't on the 99cent special pricing.

@nybiker: Oops. Not empty bag story, just almost empty bag story.

@Thaddeus: from [en.wikipedia.org]
"In the United States, Pringles are no longer marketed as potato chips, but rather as, 'potato crisps.'"
why? (and for the record, that article sucks... i want to know more about the manufacture, especially since they apparently use a special machine. and anyone remember those triangle corn chips manufactured by the pringles company from a few years back?)

@Julia789: thanks, i just lol'd.

New from Lay's: Potato Wisps! In BBQ or nacho scent!

It clearly says 300mg, meaning the poster actually got MORE than he was supposed to.

@pecan pi: aha! You're the reason all my chips are just crumbs by the time I get home. And here I was blaming the bagger! :P

I'm sorry, this really bothers me, and it has for a while. It's flat-out misleading to put so few chips in a bag that big. And big chip is doing it across the board (not to be confused with Big Chip who I believe is a dancer at a local swingers club). Still, having worked, a while back, for the Attorney General and while there dealing with consumer frauds, while this wouldn't rise to that level...yet, at what point do we say, come on, this is borderline illegal--when there are only 10 chips in a bag the size of my arm?

Outrage. Outrage!