Snack Chat

Bringing Our Snacks to Life for the Society for Nutrition Education

Last week, I attended the Society for Nutrition Education’s (SNE) annual conference in Kansas City, Mo. SNE is made up of dietitians with a passion for teaching others about nutrition, and many of them work at universities across the United States. Frito-Lay hosted a booth in the exhibit hall where I had the chance to talk to SNE members about Frito-Lay’s latest health and wellness initiatives -- and of course, provide some tasty samples of products like Fritos Lightly Salted Corn Chips with 50% less sodium than Fritos Original Corn Chips*. We also hosted a dialogue session with SNE leaders to discuss new ways to educate health professionals and consumers about how snacks can fit into the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. Boy did they have some great ideas for how to help consumers understand chips really can fit into a balanced diet!

After the conference, we took four SNE members on a tour of our plant in Topeka, Kan. to bring to life how we take simple ingredients, like potatoes and corn, oil, and salt, and use simple processes to make our snack chips. It was a great opportunity for us to discuss the nutrition of Frito-Lay snacks in depth, and for me to provide information they can share with the students and clients they educate. I think some of them were surprised to learn that a 1-oz serving of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips provides 10% of the daily value for both Vitamin C and Potassium! (Above: A picture of our group at the plant.)

Thank you to SNE and all of its members for engaging with Frito-Lay at your 2011 conference! I look forward to seeing you again in 2012.

*Fritos Original Corn Chips have 170 mg of sodium per 1-oz serving. Fritos Lightly Salted Corn Chips have 85 mg of sodium per 1-oz serving.

- Danielle

Which Video Featuring Frito-Lay Snacks is Your Favorite?

At Frito-Lay, we love to talk about all our snacks and share with you new flavors and product news. This year, we’re even more passionate to tell our good, fun snacking story, since all flavors of Lay’s potato chips, Tostitos tortilla chips and SunChips snacks are now made with all natural ingredients. Crunching into a high quality, tasty snack is one of life’s small pleasures, and we’re fortunate to share that joy with people all over the globe. As much as we enjoy talking about our products, we love hearing what our fans think about them even more. Today, we introduce three aspiring filmmakers who shared the Frito-Lay love in style! 

We invite you to watch the three videos below, which were produced in cooperation with Poptent, then vote on our Facebook page for your favorite. You can share comments about the videos here on Snack Chat too. Enjoy!

“All-Natural Family Lifestyle”

 

“Rock Mom”

 

“The Frito-Lay Family Anthem”

 

Introducing our Fan of the Month: Veronica Fulton!

Fan of the Month? That’s right… We’ve changed our popular Fan of the Week feature to be a monthly accolade! We absolutely love our fans and felt they deserved to be in the limelight for just a little longer – so we’re giving them a whole month! Plus, this gives us the chance to bring you an even greater variety of Snack Chat posts each week.  

Every month, we’ll highlight a new Frito-Lay fan, sharing fun facts and snacking tips. If you would like to be part of our fan program, sign up here, and you just might be featured as a Fan of the Month in the future! 

We’d like you to meet Veronica Fulton (pictured below)! Veronica, a dedicated fan of Fritos Chili Cheese flavored corn chips, is an avid camper who loves to be outdoors as much as possible. Learn more fun facts about Veronica, including the journey she and her family are embarking on, in her Q&A below! 

• Favorite Frito-Lay snack: Fritos Chili Cheese flavored corn chips! YUM!! 

• Favorite dip recipe or way to enjoy your chips: Sometimes I use plain sour cream as a dip with Doritos Nacho Cheese flavored tortilla chips. 

• If you could be a Frito-Lay chip, which would you be and why? I’d say Fritos Chili Cheese flavored corn chips, because they’re my favorite. 

• What extreme ingredient would you like to see our chef use in a Fritos Pie Remix recipe? I like the hot sauce idea! I love anything with chili! 

• Which chips would you pair together to make a new snack mix? I’ve been mixing Doritos Cool Ranch and Doritos Nacho Cheese flavored tortilla chips since middle school. 

• What are some tips you can share for snacking smarter or living healthier? I think you can enjoy all your favorite snacks, in moderation of course, as long as you remember to couple snacking with exercise.  

• If you could work at Frito-Lay for a day, what role would you want to be in and why? I’d like to work where they actually make the flavor decisions.  It would be neat to see that process!  

• Give us 3 fun facts about yourself: 
  • I’m an avid camper!  I love the outdoors and hands down would choose to sleep beneath the stars versus between the nicest sheets. It feels like better quality family time too… the kids have no choice, there’s nowhere to go!
  • I was married in Vegas. We were soaking wet from jumping into the lake to wake us up when we arrived. 
  • I’m restarting my life as a tight rope walker.  Okay, not really.  But I am restarting my life.  We’re going from raising small animals, like chickens and goats, to trying our hand at cattle.  We have a long way to go in research and prep, being city folk, but it’s a journey we’re all looking forward to taking! 

• Most memorable Frito-Lay snacking moment: The day I was introduced to cooking with Frito-Lay snacks!  I had used chips mainly as a side dish, but one day, I was invited to eat dinner with my future in-laws.  I sat and watched my husband’s mother pull out Fritos corn chips to use in a dish she called “taco plate.”  It is now one of our favorite dishes to make too.  

• Tell us why you are a Frito-Lay Fan: I’m a Frito-Lay fan because I know when I purchase any of your brands I’m getting quality, friendly prices and flavor!  It’s the whole package.  Spend a minute on the Frito-Lay website and you’ll see just how much Frito-Lay cares about their products AND their customers.  From dinner and snack ideas to being completely honest about what is in their products, it is a great company that moms like me can get behind. 

Veronica -- congrats on being June’s Fan of the Month!  We’re honored to have you as a fan!  You can learn more about Veronica from her blog, The Chickenista Reviews, and by following her on Twitter. And, check back in July to meet our next Frito-Lay Fan of the Month right here on Snack Chat. 

- Kristin

Now in Stores: Naturally Delicious Mix of Frito-Lay Snacks!

I've always been a big believer in eating the foods and snacks I love while keeping portion sizes in check -- so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. I also happen to love chips, so working here at Frito-Lay is a win for me. I don't even need the super fancy, bold and crazy flavors we make either (though I know many of you love those!) -- simpler is better, and you'll often find me snacking on Lay's, Fritos, SunChips and occasionally, Baked! Cheetos. So, if you're looking for some of our classic snacks and flavors in easy-to-keep-portion-control-in-mind single-serve bags, you'll be pleased to know Frito-Lay now offers a variety of its snacks made with all natural ingredients in a convenient multipack sack. That means 22 individual servings of chips like Lay's Classic and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips, Rold Gold Tiny Twists pretzels, and SunChips Garden Salsa and Harvest Cheddar multigrain snacks. 

You probably already know that earlier this year, Frito-Lay committed to making about 50 percent of our snack portfolio with all natural ingredients by the end of 2011. These are just a few of the flavors that feature all natural ingredients. Lucky for me, they happen to be my favorite brands too.

Look for the new Naturally Delicious Mix multipack sacks of Frito-Lay chips made with all natural ingredients in the chip aisle of your grocery store. And, let me know which chip flavor you're most excited to taste (or are already enjoying) made with all natural ingredients this year!

- Kristin

Give a Warm Welcome to our Fan of the Week: Ellen Christian!

Each week, we’re featuring a new Frito-Lay Fan of the Week – a great way to highlight and reward our most passionate fans! If you would like to be part of our fan program, sign up here, and you just might be featured as a Fan of the Week in the future!

We’d like to introduce you to Ellen Christian – this week’s Fan of the Week (pictured below)! Ellen is a die-hard Fritos Scoops! fan who does her part, along with her family, to be environmentally conscious – just like us!  Find out even more about our Fan of the Week in Ellen’s Frito-Lay Q&A: 

• Favorite Frito-Lay snack: It’s so hard to choose just one.  My absolute favorite would be Fritos Scoops! corn chips. I just love them and have to really stop myself from eating the whole bag. 

• Favorite dip recipe or way to enjoy your chips: I love them right out of the bag. Of course, they are also fantastic in a Fritos Pie but then I have to share them with the rest of the family! 

• If you could be a Frito-Lay chip, which would you be and why? I’d definitely be a SunChip.  I have a multi-faceted personality and great taste! 

• What extreme ingredient would you like to see our chef use in a Fritos Pie Remix recipe? I’d love to see it mixed with a maple glazed chicken.  I think the sweet/salty combination would be amazing. 

• Which chips would you pair together to make a new snack mix? I would love to see the Cheetos Puffs cheese flavored snacks mixed with Rold Gold Pretzels. Yummy! 

• What are some tips you can share for snacking smarter or living healthier? Definitely practice portion control.  I have a really hard time stopping at one serving of your delicious chips.  I package individual serving sized portions in small plastic bags so when I want them, I just grab one serving.  They stay fresh. They’re always ready for me and it helps cut down on over snacking. 

• If you got to work at Frito-Lay for a day, what role would you want to be in and why? I’d want to be the new product tester. You’ve got to have one of those, right? I can just imagine a whole office filled with brand new snacks to try. I don’t think a job could get much better than that. 

• Give us 3 fun facts about yourself:
  • We raise our own ducks and chickens.
  • We cook dinner in a solar oven during the summer.
  • I’m terrified of moths and will run from the room when I see one. 

• Most memorable Frito-Lay snacking moment: Frito-Lay products are in all of my great snacking memories from each of the kids’ birthdays to our 4th of July picnics. I can’t imagine a get-together that doesn’t have Frito-Lay products at it. 

• Tell us why you are a Frito-Lay Fan: I love your options. You have something for everyone in our family.  My husband is a huge fan of Cheetos.  My son loves your Lay’s potato chips. My daughter is gluten intolerant and goes for the Fritos, just like me. 

Congratulations, Ellen, and thanks again for being our Fan of the Week! It’s always great to hear about the ways our fans are doing their part for the environment. Learn more about Ellen on her blog and by followig her on Twitter.

Check back next week to meet our next Frito-Lay Fan of the Week right here on Snack Chat. 

- Kristin