Frito-Lay for Natural Snacks – Review and Video Contest

A few years ago I asked myself, “are there any healthy chips out there?” Well, a few years ago there weren’t that many healthy chips out on the market. Besides a handful of small organic and natural companies with only a modest amount of flavors to choose from, that was pretty much it in choices. But today, more and more mainstream companies are trying to improve their brand image by creating healthier versions of their otherwise “unhealthy” snacks. So yes, there are healthier chips out there that contain less fat, less sodium, and more importantly, natural ingredients without any additives. Thus is the case with the company, Frito Lay. You’ve probably heard of Frito Lay –  you probably even have a few of their chips in your cupboard right now. Their snacks can be found virtually anywhere and pretty much everywhere, but  what I was most concerned about was that most of their chips contained preservatives and food coloring. Icky stuff that I don’t really want my son to eat (or even myself).

 Enter Frito Lay’s latest natural chips which do not contain preservatives, or artificial colors. Actually, Frito Lay already made natural chips with their low-sodium potato chips and their regular potato chips and corn chips. If you look at the ingredients on the back of the bag, it simply lists potato, salt, and oil. And they’re mostly sunflower oil so it does add a bit more nutritional value. Now although potatoes themselves have been on and off the “Dirty Dozen” list in terms of pesticide residuals, it seems that Frito Lay has farms that grow potatoes specifically for Frito Lay potato chips as well as corn for their corn chips. This is enlightening to learn, and I’m hoping that one day they’ll disclose whether they use any toxic pesticides or fertilizers on their farms. But usually when you own your own farm, you’re pretty much in control of your crops.

As colossal as a company Frito Lay is, they have implemented ways to reduce their carbon footprint by using solar energy to produce their Sun Chips line, using renewable energy and recycled water at one of their plants, designing a more readily-recylcable bag, and so forth. They are constantly finding ways to “give back” to Earth and making sure they help in the sustainability of our planet. After all, we as human beings love to snack and if you’re going to snack on chips, why not do it responsibly and sensibly if you can? You can find more info on their ways in giving back to our planet at http://www.fritolay.com/our-planet.html.

I was given a couple of free product coupons to try their newest natural chips and to give honest feedback on their effort in helping Americans snack sensibly. Since I already know that their regular corn chips and potato chips contain only natural ingredients, I wanted to try their new Sun Chips and to see if their newly designed “compostable” bag was indeed as loud as most people have complained about. Well, it seems that their compostable bags were different than what I had expected. They no longer exuded a loud crunching sound when you’re holding the bag even slightly and yet the materials used to make the bag are still made with renewable materials. That’s pretty impressive considering the amount of Sun Chips that consumers gobble up on a daily basis. And I noticed that they’ve eliminated food coloring in most if not all of their flavored chips. That was one of my main concerns – food coloring in food is not a necessity.

So now I have renewed confidence in Frito Lay chips. I think they’re trying to make it easier for health conscious and planet conscious folks to purchase their chips. And that’s always a good thing.

Now, for the exciting part – Frito-Lay has a new Fan Video contest starting now through April 1. This contest is open only to members of the Frito-Lay fan club but my contact has offered to extend the contest to my readers. You can enter for a chance to win some great prizes from Frito-Lay. Here is a press release of the rules regarding the contest:

To create the remix video, we’re inviting a select group of Frito-Lay fans (like you!) to make your own short video incorporating some fun and easy dance moves we’ve compiled – all of which are inspired by the work we’re doing at Frito-Lay to make our snacks healthier and to reduce our environmental footprint. The moves include:
·         The Electric Truck Slide
·         Cut the Salt Shaker
·         Three Ingredient Cha-Cha
·         Whole Grain Wave
·         The Chip Churn
The first 50 people who send us their own remix video will receive an official Frito-Lay Fan t-shirt and will be featured in our final Frito-Lay Fan Remix video posted on You Tube. The top 3 most creative videos (creativity criteria to be provided with official rules) will win a Frito-Lay party pack, including a $100 American Express gift card, a chip-and-dip bowl, and more!

For those of you who are interested in entering this FUN video contest, please send an email to: info@fritolayfan.com and they will email you instructions on how to enter this contest. Make sure you put “FAN REMIX VIDEO CONTEST REFERRAL” in the Subject line. Remember, this contest isn’t open to the general public yet, but if you’re reading my post, then you’re definitely invited to enter the contest!

Good luck and I hope to see your winning video!

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the ingredients carefully when trying new products. 

Please read the labels and ingredients carefully and follow all manufacturer’s instructions (if any). The products selected for the giveaway were generously donated by the companies/PR to help readers learn more about their products. The winner’s choice in using/consuming these products are entirely up to the winner and will not hold the author and her family liable nor the companies/PR liable. These products are made with non-toxic ingredients but always be safe with what you use and consume.

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