I am not a fan of diet or light or lite products. You can almost always taste the difference and I am not willing to sacrifice flavor for the calories. However, this chip doesn't ruin the flavor by going Light. You can sneak this in as a replacement for the original without noticing much. The chip is crisp, light, and has a good salty taste.

kilgallenjp21

Undisclosed

I love these fat free chips. They're a guilty pleasure for me. I have never had any problem with the Olean/Olestra oil in these chips! My stomach is never bothered and the bag is always eaten within a few days because they're so good! I know other people in my family have been affected by the Olestra, though. I will still keep buying them for myself, though, because they taste so good!

brynneav

USA

***Quick View: ***I eat 1200 calories or less daily and under 30 grams of fat. I am at a weight I want to be and I try to maintain that by eating healthy and staying away from fatty foods. My husband brought me home a bag of **Lay's Light Original Potato Chips** and happily declared, "They're fat free!" And he was right. BUT they are not Olestra free and that fake fat has side effects all its own. Plus these chips coat my mouth with grease. Well, I mean *fake *grease. ***My Take on Lay's Light Original Potato Chips*** Don't get my wrong. Fat free potato chips are much better for people than greasy, blood vessel clogging fatty chips. I actually haven't had a real potato chip in years. I love pretzels and I eat baked potato chips on occasion. Anyway, my husband bought these for me and was happy apparently that he found chips with no fat in them because he is all too aware that I never eat high fat foods. But like sugar free products, there's always a trade off. ***The Good*** These chips look like regular potato chips and are crunchy like them. A serving is 20 chips which I feel is generous. You will only be using up 75 calories and will not be taking in any fat. That has to be a good thing in its own way.  You get a gram of fiber and a small amount of sodium (200 mg.) but otherwise, nothing else stands out. They're just chips. These are free of gluten, which is good for those who have problems digesting gluten and they are free of lactose for those who are lactose intolerant. Then again, do any chips have lactose in them? I don't know but these don't. These chips taste decent. At first, I couldn't really tell the difference between them and full fat chips. But when I was done, I could. I guess that story is for the bad column. ***The Bad*** After eating these chips, I realized that my mouth felt greasy. My lips felt greasy. Everything felt greasy! But I just ate FAT FREE chips so why was mouth literally coated in what seemed to be grease? Of course, it was the Olestra. Olestra is a "fake fat" which is used in products to reduce the fat content while still maintaining the fatty texture that we have seemingly come to love. As for these chips, Olestra does make them taste fatty and obviously, greasy. But is Olestra safe? Well, yes and no. Here is an expert from a report on Olestra and Frito Lay, the company that makes these and other chips and snacks*. *"The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) today warned consumers that Frito-Lay's "Light" snack chips are fried in the infamous, diarrhea-inducing fake fat known as olestra. Formerly known as WOW! chips, the rebranded products are now called Lays's Light, Ruffles Light, Doritos Light, and Tostitos Light. CSPI says the move increases the odds that unwitting consumers will experience the cramps, diarrhea, bleeding, stained underwear, or incontinence associated with olestra."* OK, what? Stained underwear? Diarrhea? Cramps? These remind me of the diet aid Alli that people had such high hopes for but then decided that walking around with big orange stained underwear in public and being unable to control their bowels was less favorable than losing weight with the product. They have found other ways to do that that don't involve public humiliation and cramping. Check out this little ditty about these chips:* "Most of the reports involve diarrhea, gas, and cramps. Several of the recent victims* s*ought emergency-room treatment, including a 33-year-old Georgia woman who experienced severe cramping and diarrhea after eating olestra-containing Ruffles chips. Several victims reported embarrassing episodes of fecal incontinence in the workplace; one 19-year-old man became incontinent on a date."* That poor 19 year old guy will never be the same! In all, although these chips ARE low calorie and fat free and they taste OK - despite the greasy aftertaste. I'm sticking with pretzels or baked chips. I'll take the real fat and leave Olestra to those who don't mind losing control of their bowels after a lunch of a sandwich and these chips. ***My Viewpoint*** **Lay's Light Original Potato Chips **aren't grody. They taste OK if a bit bland. they are gluten free, casein free, soy free, and MSG free. They have no fat and a low amount of calories. If you don't experience any side effects and don't mind the greasy aftertaste, these chips make a good replacement for oil laden full fat chips. However, for me, they're just not a good choice. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome - or so they say - and people with IBS have enough uncertainty just eating everyday foods to mess with stuff known to cause issues. I'll pass on **Lays Light Original Potato Chips**. I love pretzels anyway and they are naturally fat free (or very close to it) and low in calories. I give these chips 2 stars. They're pricey and could cause stomach upset. Why chance it? *(*Source for above quotes: http://www.cspinet.org/new/200410251.html)*

PattyTherre

The heart of , NY

Years ago there was a commercial about Lays Potato Chips and the catch phrase was: "Betcha can't eat just one Lays potato Chip. Every person who was given a bag of chips continued to eat one after another, unable to stop. Original Lays are in a class by themselves. I understand keeping up with the times and making snacks healthier but when you sacrifice the taste I wonder if it is worth it. Lays Light chips lack flavor. I force myself to eat them because of my high Cholesterol, but they do not come near the great taste of Original Lays. Don't get me wrong. They are tastey but when I think Lays i expect that great original flavor. I must update this review. Today I bought a bag of Lays Light original potato chips and they actually tasted better than regular lays. These chips have only 75 calories which is half the calories of regular lays. And they have absolutely no fat. I do not know how to explain the difference inb taste. Perhaps I got a hold of a bad batch of chips previously. Lays Light are made with the cobntroversial Olestra instead of regular cooking oil. There have been reports that Olestra has caused stomach cramping and diarhea in many people. I have not had any problem with eating Lays chips made with Olestra because I do not eat them regularly.

Prophetess3

Roanoke, VA

I began Weight Watchers last April and am always on the lookout for a snack that's low in fat and tastes great. Well, I finely found something that fits everything I'm looking for and has NO FAT! Sure it contains olestra and some may have a bit of gastric distress when consuming this fat, but I'm one of the blessed ones that have absolutely no adverse side effects other than wanting more! These chips are crispy and crunchy and really mimic the original Lays Chips without sacrificing any of the taste.  If I have any complaint at all, it's that they taste so good that I have difficulty at times with portion control!  At 70 calories per serving, these are the best chip snack value out there.  I would highly recommend these for anyone trying that craves a snack without the guilt. My only negative comment would be the price is a bit high and I'd like Lays to either bring it down a bit,  or at the very least, offer up some money saving coupons.

lifetimecruiser

Pittsburgh, PA

I was surprised by just how good Lays light potato chips taste. I remember Olean from the 90's I think and heard lots of bad stuff about it and thought they had completely stopped using it but it is back at least in these chips. Olean is a fat subistute making these chips fat free. I do not really remeber what the big deal was back in the 90's at least I think it was the 90s but that doesn't matter anyway. These chips are even better than the orginal Lays. They are the same price so why not get something that not only is fat free but actually taste better. Nothing bad here at all. They might not be spicy but I can make my own spicy dip to solve that problem. Great snack for anyone on a diet who has a weakness for chips. Also these light chips have half the calories of the regular. No don't eat twice as much then you are defeating the purpose. Ah what the heck eat as much as you want these things taste great. Hot sauce not neccessary but I use it anyway.

gshekailo

Suffolk, VA

I am forever watching my weight and try to stay away from high calorie and fatty snacks. There are those times though when my cravings take over and I just have to have something. The other day I had an urge for potato chips. I have tried the Baked Lay's before and wasn't all that impressed but at the store I saw **Lay's - Light Original Potato Chips**. I was intrigued because they were very low in calories and were fat free! I bought a small package but like the other Lay's I tried, I wasn't overly impressed. *** About Lay's Light Chips *** These chips are advertised as "having all the taste but half of the calories of regular potato chips." There are only 75 calories in a 1 oz. bag and are fat free. There is 200 mg of sodium but zero cholesterol. How do they do it? Lay's makes these chips with Olean, a fat free cooking oil also known as olestra. *** What I think about Lay's Light Chips *** I was really excited to find chips that had such a low calorie count and that were fat free to boot! The chips look like any other chip in size and shape. They aren't very greasy to the touch and when bitten into, they are quite crispy, unfortunately though, the taste is bland and worse, shortly after eating a chip, my lips and tongue felt greasy. It was weird because the chip itself didn't look or feel greasy yet it made my mouth feel that way. I had to keep licking my lips to try to get rid that greasy feeling but it stayed with me for quite a while. I looked up the "miracle" ingredient, olestra, only to find that this controversial fat substitute causes diarrhea, flatulence, greasy stools, stained underwear, orange-colored oil in toilet bowls, and cramps. Pretty gross huh? I thought so too. I sure wish I would have known all that before I bought these. Lay's was even sued back in 2006 by a consumer for not labeling the bag with a warning of the possible side effects of olestra. My bag had no warning so I am assuming either the lawsuit was lost or is still ongoing. Thankfully, I can report that I did not experience ANY of those symptoms. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen because I only ate a small amount. It just didn't happen to me. * **My Final Viewpoint ** * **Lay's - Light Original Potato Chips **although fat free and low in calories have a bland taste and leave my mouth feeling greasy. In addition, the whole olestra controversy and the possibility of some seriously uncomfortable side effects, has me not recommending these chips and I am only giving them a** *2 star rating***.

LaurieM

Somewhere in, NY