Put Down the Bag of Chips, and Drink From the Bottle of Oil

We’re not sure what’s more horrifying: The fact that half of British schoolchildren eat a pack of potato chips (or crisps, if you prefer) every single day, or the fact that such a rate of chip consumption means you’re ingesting more than a gallon of vegetable oil every year.

That’s a lot of oil, but split it up over 365 days, and it’s not quite as scary. What’s worse? How about eating a Hardee’s 1,420-calorie Monster Thickburger, which gives you the privilege of ingesting 107 grams of fat in one sitting. Americans aren’t shying away from the mega-calorie foods, according to new reports. Hopefully no one does THAT every day.

But telling you that fast food is bad for you and that fried slices of potato are full of fat is not exactly surprising. And there’s no way that awareness of oil in food is going to stop us from eating the occasional bag of chips. In reality, we just wanted to use this photo in a post.

A packet of crisps a day? That’s 5 litres of cooking oil in a year [Times Online]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.