General Question

andrew's avatar

Why doesn't the air inside a bag of chips cause them to stale?

Asked by andrew (16543points) December 29th, 2008
16 responses
“Great Question” (10points)

Why does merely opening the bag cause things to stale?

Yes, I was verbing stale. Yes, I gerunded verb.

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Answers

krose1223's avatar

I have always wondered this myself Thank you!!

krose1223 (3269points)“Great Answer” (0points)
AstroChuck's avatar

Given enough time I would imagine it would. I’ve opened bags of chips I’ve had for a while only to find that they were stale.

AstroChuck (37609points)“Great Answer” (0points)
simone54's avatar

They put special gas in there that doesn’t let it stale.

simone54 (7629points)“Great Answer” (6points)
buster's avatar

Maybe it has something to do with humidity during packaging? Do chips get stale faster in Oregon than Arizona? Ah simone maybe they are packed in argon.

buster (10274points)“Great Answer” (1points)
lrk's avatar

“Today, chips are packaged in plastic bags, with nitrogen gas blown in prior to sealing in order to lengthen shelf life and provide protection against crushing.” (Wikipedia)

lrk (757points)“Great Answer” (12points)
augustlan's avatar

Pondering the serious questions, I see ;) Lurve for your wording.

augustlan (47745points)“Great Answer” (0points)
simone54's avatar

Why does Irk get Great Answer when I said the same thing 10 minutes before him and I didn’t need cut and paste from wiki?

simone54 (7629points)“Great Answer” (3points)
augustlan's avatar

‘Special gas’ isn’t nearly as complete an answer as Irk gave.

augustlan (47745points)“Great Answer” (1points)
simone54's avatar

Yeah but all he did was go to wiki and type in chips. Fuck that. He didn’t even know,

simone54 (7629points)“Great Answer” (2points)
lrk's avatar

@simone, I proffered a more complete answer than you. I think most people on fluther are in favor of the most efficient exchange of accurate, complete knowledge, not “being the smartest one.”

lrk (757points)“Great Answer” (8points)
Elumas's avatar

Dayum. Beat down.

Elumas (3170points)“Great Answer” (0points)
richardhenry's avatar

KILLERMANJARO

richardhenry (12692points)“Great Answer” (4points)
El_Cadejo's avatar

HEAD SHOT!

El_Cadejo (34610points)“Great Answer” (1points)
bob's avatar

Probably it’s elves.

It’s not just that the chips are missing the argon gas; they go stale because they draw moisture out of the air. So they’ll go faster in humid environments, and if you seal the bag tightly they won’t go stale, even though there’s no argon gas inside. Presumably, the air trapped inside the bag can only give out so much moisture, and it’s not enough to make the chips go stale.

bob (3223points)“Great Answer” (8points)
richardhenry's avatar

KING OF THE HILL!

richardhenry (12692points)“Great Answer” (1points)
krose1223's avatar

because jesus said

krose1223 (3269points)“Great Answer” (0points)

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