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BLAG OF DORITOS

Crisp lovers tricked into buying bags of their favourite snacks containing up to 70 per cent AIR

An investigation found packing air into bags makes customers think they are getting more for their money

CRISP lovers are being tricked into buying bags containing 70 per cent air, with just a third of their favourite snack.

A TV investigation found packing air into bags makes customers think they are getting more for their money.

 A bag of Doritos were found to be almost three-quarters air
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A bag of Doritos were found to be almost three-quarters air

The worst offender was a 55g bag of Doritos costing £1.09, which was almost three-quarters air.

A bag of Walkers Baked contained 59 per cent air, while a bag of Tyrrells veg crisps contained 55 per cent.

Walkers Grab Bags were 50 per cent.

The larger 200g bag of Doritos was 44 per cent air and the only bag that was more than half full of crisps.

The probe was conducted by Channel 4’s Supershoppers, which is on Tuesday night.

Experts said putting air into crisp bags is not illegal because the packets are sold according to their weight and not volume.

 Crisp packets are sold according to the weight and not volume so manufacturers can get away with bulking out the bags with air
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Crisp packets are sold according to the weight and not volume so manufacturers can get away with bulking out the bags with airCredit: Alamy

But they said few customers check weights before they buy so it is easy for them to be misled on content.

The show also looks at budget supermarkets’ luxury chocolate brands and discovered Lidl’s JD Gross dark chocolate has a 200-year-old connection.

A JD Gross chocolatier lived in 19th century Berlin, but the show found no link other than the name.

A Doritos spokesperson said: “Our crisp packets are filled by weight (and not by volume).

"To help us deliver this consistently, state of the art weigh heads make sure the right amount of product is filled into the bags as they are produced and each pack passes over a ‘check-weigher’ which is designed to stop any under-filled packs from leaving our factory.

"As our snacks are susceptible to a level of breakage, we try to eliminate any damage by filling the packs with air just prior to sealing so that this acts as a ‘cushion’ during transit.”