In the food industry, taking an old favorite and reintroducing it in a lower-impact, "diet" or "light" incarnation is big business.

The trend has hit everything from light ice cream to cheese, pasta sauces, baking mixes, frozen dinners and thousands of convenience food items.

Chips Balance Taste, Health | Diet Info

Potato chips, however, have been largely immune to this lightening trend. The one major effort, fueled by Olestra -- brand name Olean -- was derailed when widespread, unpleasant gastric side effects were embarrassing enough to make late-night comedians' jobs easy and a warning label was affixed to products made with Olestra.

Now, the warning label is gone. Lay's and other chipmakers use Olestra in their reduced-fat and fat-free chips. Yes, Olestra is a fat, but it's artificial, and the body doesn't absorb it, therefore it doesn't count in nutrition facts.

As for those side effects -- other than one of our testers who downed a half-bag of chips on an empty stomach in place of a proper lunch, none of the six reported any negative effects. It would seem that provided one practices moderation, all will be well.

We didn't test only potato chips, however. With the field so small, I opened the testing to a couple of "alternative" chip choices as well. How did they match up against the big boys' offerings?

Judging The Chips

Rather than comparing the chips against each other to find the best, the chips were each judged on their own merits. Five testers could each award up to 10 points for texture and 10 points for taste, for a possible perfect score of 100 points.

For starters, here's the nutritional info on the most-eaten potato chip on the planet, the Lay's Original: 150 calories, 10 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 180 mg sodium, 15 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein.

And now, the results:

Lay's Light Original: 75 calories, 0 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein
This got the testing off to a real running start. The chips are slightly crunchier than their full-fat counterparts, and the extra 20 mg of sodium shows up in a slightly saltier tang.

Altogether, these are a thoroughly satisfactory substitute for regular plain chips. However, like regular chips, they do leave something of a greasy mouthfeel. For some, this is an attraction that drives them to pound down whole bags at a sitting. To our testers, it cost the chips a few points, finishing with a total of 87 out of 100.

Baked Lay's Original: 120 calories, 2 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 180 mg sodium, 23 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein
The first word out of each and every tester's mouth on first crunch was "Pringles." And there's a reason for that: These chips are made from dehydrated potatoes, just like those famous canned chips. However, these are somewhat doughier than Pringles, and I defy anyone to eat more than a few of them without running for a toothpick to remove vast quantities of starchy goo from their gums. The flavor was adequate, but the soft crunch and mouth-clogging properties brought this chip in at a next-to-last 65.

Cape Cod 40 Percent Reduced Fat: 130 calories, 6 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 110 mg sodium, 18 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein
The Cape Cod chips did very well in our previous chip comparison and continued the tradition here.

These were in every respect good chips. They don't have quite the crunch of the classic kettle-cooked chips, since a "flash baking" process is used, along with a dunk in the kettle to control the fat content, but they're still quite good. The one downside had nothing to do with the crunch, it was the salt content; It seemed a bit lacking. A truly good chip has a salty kick, and that was oddly muted here. Overall, the chips scored a respectable 88, just edging out the Lay's Light.

Pringles Reduced Fat Original: 140 calories, 8 grams fat, 0 grams cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram protein
Just as with the Lay's Light Original, this was nearly indistinguishable from the original on which it's modeled. That addictive crunch was there, as well as that flavor best defined by the scientific term "Pringleness."

For fans of classic chips, these (like regular Pringles) are not a great substitute, but if you prefer your chips in a can, these will make you happy. They scored a solid 82, losing a few points for a slightly doughy mouthfeel.

Snyder's Soy Crisps Parmesan, Garlic And Olive Oil: 160 calories, 9 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 290 mg sodium, 11 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams protein
No, that sodium number is not a misprint. There are honestly 290 mg of sodium in each serving of these chips. What that serves to do is destroy any trace of the garlic or olive oil the bag claims to include. Part of the problem might be that "natural olive oil flavor" is what the ingredients panel lists. What's that? I'm not sure I want to know. Essentially, if you were to open that can of cheap canned parmesan in your fridge or cabinet and eat a heaping spoonful, you'd be approximating the flavor of these chips, without spending nearly $4 a bag.

The texture was more akin to a cracker than a chip but wasn't bad. It was the sledgehammer saltiness and lack of other flavors that brought this chip in at a distant last of 47 total points.

Doritos Light Nacho Cheese: 100 calories, 2 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 19 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein

Our second Olestra-cooked chip was another winner, with all that slightly spicy cheesiness that make Doritos one of the chip-aisle titans. The crunch was a bit more cracker-like than the original chips, but still quite adequate. And, as a bonus, these chips didn't turn tasters' fingers orange quite as much as the originals. Anyone who's left a big nacho thumbprint on a quarterly report will appreciate that. Taste and texture combined to bring this chip a second-best 91 points.

Flat Earth Garlic And Herb Veggie Chips 130 calories, 5 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 19 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams protein
It deserves noting that the Flat Earth chips also provide 20 percent of the USDA requirements for vitamin A and 10 percent of the vitamin C. The flavor wasn't bad at all, either. It was slightly sweet, and the garlic flavor was most definitely present, in great contrast to the soy crisps. The texture wasn't quite "chip," but wasn't overly bready. It was light and pleasing.

The Flat Earth chips scored a surprising 89 out of 100 possible points. I'll be adding them to my chip arsenal.

Ruffles Light Original: 70 calories, 0 grams fat, 0 grams cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams protein
By now, it should come as no surprise that the Olestra-cooked chips taste very close to the originals. Ruffles have long been a personal favorite when it comes to dip scooping, and that led to an additional test for these: the bacon-horseradish dip scooping challenge. Could these fat-free chips scoop that classically sturdy concoction adequately?

The answer is a qualified yes. The chips overall were smaller than the usual Ruffles, but held up just as well when dragged through the vat o' dip. That, of course, negates the "fat-free" qualities, but that's just the price we hardworking testers have to pay to bring you the best, most accurate results.

The Ruffles were the champs here, with a final score of a near-perfect 97.

Conclusions

So, what have we learned?

Well, not all alternative chips are necessarily gourmet delights. It's possible to make bad food with good intentions.

Most importantly, however, we've learned that Olestra, despite the shouting over its potential for gastric horribleness, makes a darned good chip. Exercise moderation (as you should be anyway), and you should be fine. Other Diet Features:

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