How does packed potato chips retain its taste and crunchiness for so long but lose both when kept in open for a short while?

Question

Yeah. That’s pretty much the question

In: 59

Answer 1

So you know how everyone complains that the packets contain almost nothing but air and that’s misleading?

That bag of almost nothing but empty air does two things.

One is that it provides cushioning so you don’t get a bag of potato crumb.

Two is that it’s a bag of nitrogen. This is because the nitrogen doesn’t react with the chips. Normal air contains oxygen and the oxygen reacts with the chips and makes lose quality but changing the chemicals in the chips.