Nutrional Information On Potato Chips

George Crum developed the thin, crispy fried potato chip at a restaurant in New York in 1853, according to the Snack Food Association. Since then, potato chips have become one of the most popular snack foods in America. Before you open your next bag of chips, learn how the nutritional content in potato chips fits with your dietary needs.

Serving Size and Calories

Although it is easy to reach into the chip bag time and time again, you may be eating more than one serving at a sitting. A standard U.S. Department of Agriculture serving of generic potato chips is 1 oz, or about 13 to 16 chips. Potato chips have 154 calories per ounce. If you eat half an 8-oz. bag, you will consume about 616 calories, or 30 percent of your calories in a 2,000-calorie diet. Reduced-fat and fat-free chips have slightly fewer calories, with fat-free chips having 107 calories per ounce, and reduced-fat chips having 134 calories per ounce.

Fats and Sodium

The salt and fat in potato chips can contribute to high-blood pressure and obesity. The USDA standard generic potato chip has 10 g of fat and 149 mg of sodium. If you follow a 2,000-calorie diet, the fat in 1 oz. of chips equals 18 percent of your dietary fat allowance and about 10 percent of your allowed 1,500 mg of sodium. An ounce of reduced-fat chips has 5.9 g of fat and 139 mg of sodium, and fat-free chips have .17 g of fat and 183 mg of sodium. Reduced-fat and regular potato chips have 1.2 and 1.4 g of saturated fats, meaning the majority of the fats are from healthier monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Regular potato chips have a trace of trans fats, while reduced-fat chips have no trans fats.

Healthier Nutrients

Potato chips have some healthy nutrients, including potassium, iron and magnesium. Regular potato chips also have 5.3 mg of vitamin C, 1.9 mg of vitamin E and 21 mcg of folate in 1 oz. The 466 mg of potassium in 1 oz. of chips is about 10 percent of the Institute of Medicine's potassium recommendation for adults.

Considerations

Eating potato chips should be an occasional rather than daily event because of the calories and relatively low nutritional benefits. Potato chips are a high-energy density food, meaning you need to eat a lot of them before you feel full. If you thinly slice your own raw potatoes and bake them, you can make a healthier version with little oil and no salt. When you purchase chips, look for salt-free or low-salt chips to limit the sodium.