I do not
think there is one person in this class that has not eaten a stale chip. I know
I will look in the cabinet, reach in for a snack, grab a chip bag down, and
when I bite in the chip has a stale taste I'm wicked disappointed. The word
stale has been in my vocabulary for as long as I can remember; I have just
accepted it, but truly I have no idea why chips go stale in the air and not in
the bag that they are in. There is air in the bag isn't there?
Well the
answer is: Nitrogen. The article I said pointed out that if you think of
feeling a chip bag, you think of it feeling inflated, similarly to a balloon.
This is because chip bags are actually not filled with air but nitrogen gas!
The nitrogen gas is actually what keeps the chips from going stale. Oxygen
cannot do the trick because it is very reactive and when it is combined with
other molecules it can cause chemical reactions. Nitrogen is the opposite being
very stable and unreactive. When a food reacts with oxygen it is said to
oxidize quickly and these nitrogen atmospheres can prevent that from happening.
Something that should be mentioned though is that air is not just oxygen but
actually 78% nitrogen gas! So don't worry opening those chips, nitrogen gas is
all around us.
Well that's a relief. I've actually always wondered that. Is it the same with crackers and cup cakes? I would assume so. Nitrogen is actually used in a lot of different types of foods for preservation. It's cool when we find things like this out, since it's been around for so long, but not really a huge thing to know. Great post.
Nitrogen? I never thought of that. It makes so much sense after you explained it. It seems ironic that Nitrogen is supposed to keep chips from going stale. Now that you explain it, Oxygen wouldn't be the best solution because of mass processing, the chips would go stale much quicker!
Yeahh actually it is funny the article that I read mentions that bacon is preserved with nitrogen gas! I also read food can be preserved with something called Argon! https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/packing_your_own_food_storage/nitrogen_in_food_preservation.htm
I absolutely despise stale chips, let along an air bag full. I wonder why are bags sometimes half full, but I understand why. Here is another reason what might have happened and our bags are half filled. http://www.potatopro.com/Lists/News/DispForm.aspx?ID=3216