Introduction to Lays Potato Chips

Lays potato chips are a highly addictive snack with over $4 billion in annual sales and a wide range of unique flavors. The company sources its potatoes from farms across 25 US states, allowing for a steady supply of fresh tubers.

Potato Harvesting and Storage

Potatoes are planted in the spring, harvested in the summer using a specialized harvester, and then processed to become the iconic thin and crispy chips. The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck.

In hot regions, timely harvesting is crucial to prevent the potatoes from cooking in the soil. The potatoes are then taken to a storage barn where they are cleaned and sorted using a system of saves and shakers, and an optical sorter that removes any stones or flawed tubers.

The sorted potatoes are loaded into giant wooden crates and stored in a cold storage cellar that can hold around 40 million potatoes at a time, with a circulating air system maintaining a steady temperature of 45° F with 85% humidity to keep them dormant.

Potato Preparation and Inspection

When ordered, the potatoes are transferred from cold storage to a conveyor, washed in a water flume, and cleaned with brushes and water jets. The cleaned potatoes are then loaded onto a van loader conveyor and shipped to a factory where they are transformed into Lays Classic within 24 hours.

Upon arrival, the potatoes are unloaded using a hydraulic platform and gravity, and then inspected for quality before being processed. Potatoes are checked for buoyancy and flesh to water ratio using a hydrometer, and the readings are used to adjust cooking times.

The potatoes are then sent for a fry test to check sugar content, and those with too much sugar are removed. After a precautionary wash, the potatoes are peeled using industrial-sized machines and scanned by an advanced camera system to ensure quality.

Potato Slicing and Frying

The peeled potatoes can be processed at a rate of over 4 million per day. Cameras instantly detect rotting or visible defects in potatoes, and a mechanical system removes them. The remaining potatoes are sorted by size using massive plastic screws and then split in half.

They are then sliced into 35 pieces, each exactly 5/100ths of an inch thick, using spinning drum slicers. Workers check the slices for thickness to ensure they curl perfectly, using different blades for various chip types, such as classic, wavy, or ruffled.

The slices are then rinsed in a channel of flowing water and undergo multiple washing cycles to eliminate surface starch before frying. After de-starching, they are fried in a 40ft long continuous fryer filled with a blend of oils at 350°F for about 3 minutes.

Seasoning and Packaging

The chips then tumble out of the fryer, hot, golden, and crispy. Delicate potato chips are moved forward on vibrating conveyors to prevent breakage, then scanned for flaws at a rate of over 400 chips per second, with rejects removed by targeted air blasts.

The chips are then seasoned in a rotating tumbler with various flavors, including plain salt and custom spice blends, before being packaged. The manufacturing process of chips involves unique flavorings and a precise weighing system to achieve the exact target weight for each bag.

The chips are then filled into bags, topped with nitrogen to prevent staleness, and heat sealed shut, creating a protective cushion to prevent crushing. Finally, the bags are boxed, either by human hands or robotic arms with suction cups, and moved through a conveyor system with machine precision.

Shipping and Delivery

Packed boxes are moved to a palletizing area by a conveyor system, then collected by automated guided vehicles and delivered to a warehouse. Each pallet is wrapped in plastic film for transport and loaded onto trucks to be delivered to customers worldwide.

Key Vocabulary

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Vocabulary Quiz

1. Which word means ‘a device used to measure the density of a liquid or the ratio of solid to liquid in a substance’ in the context of checking potatoes for quality?

A) Hydrometer
B) Thermometer
C) Spectrometer
D) Barometer

2. What is the term for the process of removing surface starch from potato slices before frying?

A) De-starching
B) Blanching
C) Steaming
D) Boiling

3. Which word means ‘a system that uses a blend of oils at a high temperature to cook food’ in the context of frying potato chips?

A) Continuous fryer
B) Deep fryer
C) Convection oven
D) Microwave

4. What is the term for the process of removing air from a package and replacing it with a gas, such as nitrogen, to prevent staleness?

A) Vacuum sealing
B) Gas flushing
C) Modified atmosphere packaging
D) All of the above

5. Which word means ‘a device used to move objects, such as boxes of chips, using suction cups’ in the context of packaging and shipping?

A) Robotic arm
B) Conveyor belt
C) Palletizer
D) Forklift

Answer Key:

1. A
2. A
3. A
4. D
5. A

Grammar Focus

Grammar Focus: Relative Clauses with Noun Phrases

Grammar Quiz:

• Which of the following sentences uses a relative clause with a noun phrase to provide additional information about the noun “potatoes”?
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute.
  • The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, and then processed to become the iconic thin and crispy chips.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, but not processed.
• What is the purpose of the relative clause “with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck” in the sentence “The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck”?
  • To describe the rate at which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
  • To provide additional information about the noun “potatoes”.
  • To describe the process of harvesting and sorting potatoes.
  • To describe the conditions under which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
• Which of the following sentences uses a relative clause with a noun phrase to describe the circumstances under which an action takes place?
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, and then processed to become the iconic thin and crispy chips.
  • The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, but not processed.
• What is the function of the relative clause “with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck” in the sentence “The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck”?
  • To provide additional information about the noun “potatoes”.
  • To describe the rate at which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
  • To describe the process of harvesting and sorting potatoes.
  • To describe the conditions under which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
• Which of the following sentences uses a relative clause with a noun phrase to provide additional information about the noun “potatoes”?
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted at a rate of up to 40,000 per minute.
  • The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, and then processed to become the iconic thin and crispy chips.
  • The potatoes are harvested and sorted, but not processed.

Answer Key:

• 2. The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.
• 4. To describe the conditions under which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
• 3. The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.
• 4. To describe the conditions under which potatoes are harvested and sorted.
• 2. The potatoes, with debris and dirt removed as they are loaded into a dump truck, are harvested and sorted.