Cooking chips at home

Potatoes are virtually fat free naturally having almost no fat - 0.1-0.2%. However, some cooking techniques (e.g deep frying) do add a lot of fat and potatoes can become ‘high fat’. It is not the potato - it is how they are cooked.

If you are a chip fan (and who isn’t?) look for oven baked brands and opt for chunkier cut or wedges, with the skin on, rather than shoe-string or crinkle cut.

When using prepared potato products read the label, many brands are very low in fat (3-5%) fat making them an excellent choice.

Consider what other foods you are serving in the meal - serving brands which are 10% fat with a stir-fry and steak may give you a meal of less total fat than if you served meals like pasta smothered in creamy sauce, lasagne or nachos topped with cheese and sour cream. It is best not to consider foods in isolation. Process potatoes will deliver many of the nutrients of fresh potatoes, however usually in lesser quantities.

Wondering about crisps?
Standard crisps are around 30-35% fat and lower fat brands are about 20 - 24%, so they aren’t as good for you as other forms of potatoes. However, things are not always as they seem...

Did you know?
• Low fat or ‘lite’ crisps have less fat than many brands of crackers. Plus you get Vitamin C which you don’t in crackers.
• Small packs of crisps (50g) have more than double the Vitamin C of a fresh apple or 3 times as much fibre and 2 times more Vitamin C as a bunch of grapes (100g). (Exact values vary with brands).

Of course you must balance this with the fact that crisps are a source of fat whilst fruit isn’t.