The bags of crisps that are 70% air

CRISP makers are conning their customers by selling bags containing up to 70 per cent air, an investigation has claimed.

The probe revealed Doritos to be the worst offender – with almost three-quarters of a 55g bag costing £1.09 made up of air.

Experts said the practice was to make customers believe they are getting more for their money – although it is not illegal as crisps are sold on weight rather than volume.

According to Channel 4’s Supershoppers programme, an average bag of Walkers Baked contained 59 per cent air, while a packet of Tyrrells vegetable crisps contained 55 per cent. Only one bag of those tested was more than half full of crisps – a 200g bag of Doritos with 44 per cent air.

It has previously been claimed the bags are filled this way – usually with nitrogen because oxygen in normal air makes the crisps go soft – in order to cushion them from being crushed during deliveries.

However, this has not stopped many customers from feeling shortchanged by the practice.

In March, Rhian Green, 38, from Bristol, complained to Aldi after her teenage son opened a 17g packet of the supermarket’s ownbrand Monster Claws to find just two crisps. It prompted a flurry of similar complaints on social media, with many noting the lack of crisps inside packets.

A spokesman for PepsiCo, which owns both Walkers and Doritos, said: ‘Our crisp packets are filled by weight and not by volume. As our snacks are susceptible to a level of breakage, we fill the packs with air just prior to sealing so that this acts as a cushion during transit.’

Aldi has launched an investigation with its supplier.

Supershoppers is on Channel 4 tomorrow at 8.30pm.