Hot Chips

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Full Portion of Hot Chips

Calories 900kcal
Carbohydrate 100g
Protein 12g
Fat 48g
Saturated Fat 15g
Sodium 1489mg

=2.5 unbalanced meals

FOOD FACTS

  • A full portion of hot chips, about three fistfuls, provides more than double the energy recommended for a light meal.
  • Potatoes are not a vegetable. Apart from having no colour from salad or vegetables, a meal of hot chips is far too high in fat and concentrated starch.
  • A single fistful of 10 chips or 100g (the preferred portion for women), is actually equivalent to two starch portions and three fat portions.
  • Potato chips are deep-fried in oil and therefore very high in fat. One full portion of hot chips in fact contains almost your daily fat allowance.
  • Frying food in oil that is kept hot continuously, may greatly increase the trans fatty acid content of the fried food. Trans fatty acids are implicated in many diseases.
  • As hot chips are salted, one full portion contains three times the sodium recommendation for a healthy meal. Not ideal for those with high blood pressure.

SMART CHOICE HOT CHIPS AND SALAD

One Fistful of Chips With a Large Salad Topped With Some Protein and No Dressing

Calories 440kcal
Carbohydrate 38g
Protein 22g
Fat 20g
Saturated Fat 6g
Sodium 528mg

OPTIMISING THE SMART CHOICE

  • Hot chips are the biggest culprit in making meals away from home unhealthy. In most cases chips are unnecessary as they only add excessive calories and fat.
  • To make hot chips part of a balanced meal, you need to add a large salad topped with some lean protein such as grilled chicken strips, grilled calamari, tuna in brine, low-fat cottage cheese, a boiled egg, ham, smoked salmon or trout. Serve this salad with only one fistful of chips.
  • Oven chips, baked in the oven without added oil, contain half the fat of regular fried hot chips. However, the correct serving size would still be a fistful of oven chips as one medium potato would make one fistful of chips.
  • Eating only a few hot chips from somebody else’s plate may be equivalent to a whole starch portion with fat. Think twice before nibbling on those hot chips.