Have you ever felt like you have been conned when you joyfully open a bag of potato chips, only to find a mere handful of chips inside? The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) says that storage in a sealed bag filled with nitrogen is necessary to keep the chips fresh and tasty.
The TFDA shared a post on its Facebook page and an article on its Web site, in which it said that potato chips are fried at a high temperature during the manufacturing process, and when they come into contact with air they can easily become oxidized, which would tend to make them turn soft and crumble, and can even make them smell and taste rancid.
The TFDA explained that a sealed bag can prevent the chips from coming into contact with air, thus reducing oxidation and extending their shelf life. This it done by sealing them inside a plastic bag lined with a compound material such as tin foil or aluminum foil. As well as keeping out contamination by things like air, grease, damp and microbes, it can also help to prevent light exposure and reduce oxidation.
Photo courtesy of Zhengzhou Amisy Trading Co 照片：鄭州艾美斯貿易有限公司提供
The TFDA says that food manufacturers pump the bags full of nitrogen to prevent the chips from being damaged and broken by knocking or crushing during transportation. Nitrogen is chemically stable and does not easily react with other substances. It is the most plentiful gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, comprising 78.09 percent of its total volume, which makes it easy and cheap to obtain. “Nitrogen flushing” technology can therefore be used to ensure the quality and safety of potato chips, making them look wholesome and taste good as well as keeping them free from contamination by bacteria or other microbes.
(Translated by Julian Clegg, Taipei Times)
你是否曾經有過滿心歡喜打開洋芋片，卻發現裡面東西只有一點點，感覺像被騙呢？台灣食品藥物管理署表示，為了保持洋芋片的新鮮美味，密封包裝以及氮氣充填保存是必須的。
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan FDA 照片：台灣食藥署提供
食藥署在臉書專頁「食用玩家-食藥署」及食藥好文網發文分享，洋芋片的製造過程會經高溫油炸，與空氣接觸後易氧化，導致洋芋片容易變軟、破碎，甚至還會產生油耗味，變得不好吃。
食藥署說明，密封包裝可以避免洋芋片接觸空氣，減少氧化的程度，延長保存期限。目前是運用內層有錫箔或鋁箔等複合性材質的塑膠包裝袋密封，不僅能阻擋空氣、油脂、潮濕、細菌微生物等外在汙染，錫箔或鋁箔的材質還可以輔助避光，減少氧化。
食藥署表示，為了避免洋芋片在運送的過程中因碰撞、擠壓而受損碎裂，食品製造業者會在包裝中填充足夠的氮氣量。氮氣的化學性質穩定，不容易與其他物質發生化學反應，也是地球大氣中含量最多的氣體，佔總體積的百分之七十八點零九，方便取得且成本較低，所以透過「氮氣充填」的技術，能確保洋芋片的品質與安全，使洋芋片外觀完整、口味好吃又不受細菌微生物汙染。
（自由時報）
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