Complaint Letter

Dear Lay’s Chip Company Administration,

My family and I have been satisfied customers of Lay’s chips for many years. The variety of flavors, different sizes of bags, and having contests to figure out the new flavor.

However, we sometimes get concerned with the amount of air you put in every chip bag you sell. We’ve went to the grocery store countless times to get our favorite flavor, which is the barbecue. I’ve opened the bags many times, and always noticed how my family and I already have to reach deep into the bag to grab a couple. Some of the bags have less air than others, probably due to shipping. I’ve researched about this, and it goes to show that your company isn’t the only one using up more than half the bag. Fritos chips has 64% of air in their chip bags, while Pringles has 66%. It’s kind of shocking how Pringles can also do this, because we used to be told that this company is the ‘only company that sells chips with no air,’ while it actually does. But going back to your chip bags, the research I’ve gotten showed that your chip bags have 86% air and 14% chip. So who knows if we’re actually getting what we paid for? I understand that you need some air in there to protect the chips from getting crushed, which is sometimes also called “slack fill.” One of my sources say that the FDA hasn’t acted against slack-fill violation in five years, said by public affairs spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey. This mostly means that the FDA has been letting all these chip bags pass for a very long time, and it’s been deceiving people, making it look like it has more in the bag, when it clearly doesn’t.

In order for the product to pass, it shouldn’t be made in a package that’ll make the consumer think about how much it actually contains. I’ve seen your bags, and see them sometimes really puffy and full of air. I tend to choose the ones with less air, making it seem like there’s more in the bag. Most studies show that 75 to 80 percent of consumers don’t look at any of the labels, which is important so you know how much is actually in the bag.

Through this all, your chips have always been really good from the start. We just try to deal with the amount you put in your bag, because we know that we’re not the only people concerned about this situation. But it would be a little better if you took out a little air and added a few more chips.

I have no objection to your policies and what you have to offer your customers, but I feel that you should add more chips and take out more air.

Sincerely,

Angela Navor