As North Americans, we eat more than $32 billion worth of snack food a year.
Munchie lovers will want any leftover chips and crackers to keep their crunch, so Consumer Reporter Chris Olsen checked out the best way to keep favourite snacks from getting soggy.
People love potato chips, but when chips go stale have no flavor, they can be very flat and disgusting.
To find the best way to keep crisp food from getting stale, Consumer Reports ShopSmart magazine pitted Quick Seals against Glad Bags, Ziploc bags, and Clips.
"With Quick Seals you can apply a zip closure to opened bags. You simply apply the Quick Seal with these adhesive strips and then you slide to seal," said Lisa Lee Freeman of Consumer Reports ShopSmart.
Potato chips and Tostitos were sealed and stored, then tasted after five weeks to see which tasted freshest.
And the results?
"The chips from the Ziploc and the Glad bags were a bit stale. But the clip and the Quick Seals kept the food tasting just as fresh as if it were from a newly opened bag," said Freeman.
Quick Seals bags cost 20 cents each but are not reusable -- a major downside.
Clips cost $2.50, but are reusable over and over again, so after a while the cost per use is practically nothing.
No matter which you choose, be sure to squeeze the air out of the bag so that the seal is air tight.
Reusing the clips -- and the bag the food comes in -- means less waste for the landfill, a real vote winner.
Since you may have more than one snack on the go at any one time -- it's a good idea to have more than one of these around. Different sizes and styles come in handy too
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.
