When Oprah declared that she would stop eating organic blue corn tortilla chips in favor of sweet potato chips, little did she know that the food industry was one step ahead of her. Healthier, alternative snack chips were a huge trend at last weekend's Fancy Foods Show. With names like Corazonas and Yuka, these chips have South American roots. 
Corazonas the only chip made with potatoes, stood out because they actually help lower cholesterol. The rest of the chips, feature an up and coming tuber, known as the cassava. To find out more about this interesting starch, read more.
The cassava is ancient root similar to the potato. After rice and potatoes, it's the world's most widely consumed staple. Thus, it's only natural the cassava be turned into chip form.
Maxi Cassava is a gluten-free chip (and cracker) with an original flavor, while the Yuca brand's cassava was hot and spicy. Out of all the chips I tasted, Joseph Banks black pepper cassava root chips were my favorite. The crisp texture closely resembled thick-cut potato chips and the black pepper flavor was fresh and intense.
Overall, these snacks were intriguing to try once, but I won't incorporate them into my daily diet. Perhaps if I were more of a snacker, I would enjoy them on a regular basis.
Have you tried other root vegetable or cassava chips? What did you think of them?
Brand Alley
Comme des Garcons
Lila
Oprah's issue was not that she was eating blue corn tortilla chips *instead* of sweet potato chips. It was that she was eating an entire bag of them in one sitting! So while it's great to have healthier chips when you are snacking, how much you eat is just as important as what you're eating. Good grief!
1shoneyjoe so true!
2Sweet potato chips aren't exactly health food either, Oprah! Deep-frying anything pretty much cancels out most of its nutritional benefits. Healthy potato chips are, IMHO, sort of an oxymoron. I guess if you're going to eat them, find ones with the least amount of "evil", lol. But yeah, watch those serving sizes because they can add up quickly.
3huh - i'm always open to trying new things so i might have to search these things out and taste them!
4I don't get it, chips are hardly healthy, tons of calories even if baked compared with other snack choices, hard to keep control on calories. For me chips are not snacks, are indulgencies, maybe twice a year.
5Perfect to go along with a nice, creamy artichoke dip!
6Those Joseph Banks ones sound delish, and the packaging cracks me up.
7taro chips are my indulgence of choice.
8I like Corazonas chips, but like everyone has already said, you can't eat a whole bag of them. Even if they help lower your cholesterol!
9I love cassava chips. I have been eating it since i was little.
10I like other root vegetables to potatoes when it comes to chips. My fav is a bag of mixed ones in Dominican republic called Mofongo Snax. It's supposed to be like the snack version of a really popular dish (it's mashed plantains mixed lightly fried and mixed with crispy fried pork skin and garlic). The Snax has plantain chips, Yucca chips and pork rinds! I love it!
11I just heard a talk by Ramona Cappello today as she's an alumnae of my sorority. She's the CEO of Corazonas and to hear her story, it makes me want to support and eat the chips even more, and they're good for you!!
12I LOVE cassava root chips espicailly the chili and kaffir lime flavored. It's the healthiest chips for you ever and it is so good.!!
13I just got a new vegetable slicer, with EasyChip I can make Tornado potato Chips (any potato), curly potatoes, ribbon potatoes and I can also prepare the most delicious salad I ever had, I also can prepare the Zucchini pasta and fruits and vegetables garnishes. This fantastic product is at TwistedChips.
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