Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Lightly Salted Kettle Cooked Chips

One of the great fears of trying to eat healthy is sacrificing taste. For some people, a little sacrifice won't hurt if it comes to a quick lunch or a light version of chicken. And maybe a few more veggies on the plate could do some of us a little good.

But one area where people are a little more reluctant to give an inch is in the area of snack food. I am no exception. The thought of "healthy" snacks used to make me sick in the stomach until recently. I have found that yes; you can have a little bit of taste. But what about potato chips? Can you possibly have a nice, greasy potato chip and feel a little less bad about eating it?

According to Trader Joe's, yes you can. Trader Joe's makes a line of crisps called Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Kettle Cooked Chips. According to the label, these chips have 33% less fat than the leading brand of chips. Could that possibly be true, or is it just another marketing ploy? And if they are "reduced guilt", is the taste reduced as well?

Upon examining the calories and nutritional information, the Reduced Guilt Kettle Cooked Chips are pretty sparse when it comes to ingredients: potatoes, sunflower oil, and salt. I did select the lightly salted version, so I was happy to see that it was the last ingredient listed and that there were only 95mg per serving. There are also only 6 grams of fat per serving with 0 cholesterol and 15 grams of carbs.

According to the back label, the Kettle Cooked Chips are 120 calories per serving, whereas the "regular" chips are 150. But what brand are the regular chips that they are comparing to? I decided to compare them to Lay's regular potato chips because they seemed to have the closest resemblance. Lays chips are indeed 150 calories per serving with 10 grams of fat and 180 mg of sodium. Truthfully, you are getting less fat AND salt with each handful. But is it worth the taste?

The answer to that question is "yes". These chips taste surprisingly greasy and bad for you. They taste like they were fried and dipped in that lovely fatty flavor. They are crispy enough to hold onto whatever dip you bathe them in. In fact, I almost wondered if Trader Joe's was lying about the "reduced guilt" tag on this bag because I felt like I had definitely munched on a bag of "bad for you" snacks. But I know I hadn't.
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