Like many avid potato chip lovers, friends Olivia and Leiana, from Auckland's Elim Christian College, were fed up with opening their chip packets only to find that the bag was half full.
With a bit of help from Fair Go, the girls did their research and found out that the air wasn‘t really air, but nitrogen gas, piped into packets to keep chips fresh, and to keep their integrity while being processed and transported.
This process, nitrogen flushing, is used by most potato chip companies, and provides a cushion of air inside the packet.
Olivia and Leiana wanted to see the process in action, and got the opportunity to ask chip manufacturers if it was possible to fill bags to the top without any nitrogen.
Proper Crisps, chip manufacturers in Nelson, invited the girls to get a behind-the-scenes look at how potatoes get turned into a bag of chips.
In the end, they learned that potato quality and size plays a part in how full they pack their bags, and that a little bit of air is necessary to help keep the chips fresh, but also safe when they’re being transported around the country.
Their investigative skills were rewarded with a prize pack from Canon, $1000 from TVNZ for their school and being named Fair Go’s 2020 Consumer Heroes.
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