The salty snack in your pantry has a history far older than you think

Food & Drink · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: While many believe the potato chip was a mid-19th-century accident, the earliest recipe appeared in an 1817 British cookbook. From humble kitchen shavings to a global industry worth billions, the evolution of this crunchy snack involves flavor wars, innovative packaging, and a persistent myth about a disgruntled customer.

The origin of the potato chip is often falsely attributed to George Crum, a cook who supposedly invented the snack in 1853 to appease a customer at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. Historians have debunked this legend, noting that the customer, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was in Europe at the time, and the Moons did not even own the establishment until 1854. In reality, the first recorded recipe for "Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings" appeared in William Kitchiner's 1817 bestseller, The Cook's Oracle, published in London. By the 1820s, similar recipes were circulating in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

For over a century, potato chips remained a simple, unseasoned snack. The modern flavor revolution began in 1954 when Joe Murphy of the Irish company Tayto pioneered cheese and onion seasoning. This innovation sparked a fierce two-decade flavor war, with competitors like Walkers and Smith's rushing to launch their own varieties, including salt and vinegar. In the United States, barbecue flavor emerged around the same time, with Herr's introducing it in Pennsylvania in 1958. Today, global flavors range from Japanese wasabi and nori to Indonesian mango sticky rice.

Industrialization transformed the snack from restaurant fare to a mass-market staple. In the 1920s, entrepreneur Laura Scudder revolutionized the industry by having workers iron wax paper into bags, which kept chips fresh and reduced breakage. Later, the shift from batch processing to continuous conveyor-belt frying allowed for massive scale. While health concerns regarding sodium and acrylamide have persisted, research has often challenged popular fears; for instance, Cancer Research UK has labeled the idea that burnt food causes cancer a myth, and studies have shown that some breakfast cereals contain more salt than a standard bag of crisps.

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