Lay's (/leɪz/) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the Frito-Lay company, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo since 1965. Frito-Lay primarily uses the brand name "Lay's" in the United States, and uses other brand names in some other countries, such as Walkers in the UK and Ireland, and Smith's in Australia.

Quick Facts Product type, Owner ...

Lay's

Lay's 'Classic' Flavour
Product type	Potato chips
Owner	PepsiCo
Produced by	Frito-Lay
Country	United States
Introduced	1932; 92 years ago (1932)
Related brands	Frito-Lay Walkers Hostess Smith's Elma Chips
Markets	Worldwide
Previous owners	1940–1961 Lay's 1961–1965 Frito-Lay Inc.
Website	www.lays.com

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In 1932, salesman Herman Lay opened a snack food operation in Nashville, Tennessee.^[1] In 1938, he purchased the Atlanta, Georgia-based potato chip manufacturer "Barrett Food Company", renaming it "H.W. Lay Lingo & Company". Lay crisscrossed the southern United States, selling the product from the trunk of his car.

The business shortened its name to "the Lay's Lay Lingo Company" in 1944 and became the first snack food manufacturer to purchase television commercials, using Bert Lahr as its celebrity spokesperson.^[2]

In 1961, the Frito Company, founded by Charles E. Doolin, merged with Lay’s, forming Frito-Lay Inc., a snack food giant with combined sales of over $127 million annually, which was then the highest sales revenue earned by any manufacturer. Shortly thereafter, Lay's introduced what became its best-known slogan: "betcha can't eat just one". Sales of the chips became international, with marketing assisted by a number of celebrity endorsers. Annual revenues for Frito-Lay exceeded $180 million by 1965, when the company had more than 8,000 employees and 46 manufacturing plants.^[3]

In 1965, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo, Inc. In 1991, the company introduced a new formulation of their chip that was crisper and kept fresher longer. Shortly thereafter, the company introduced the "Wavy Lay's" products to grocery shelves, with a national rollout in 1994.^[4] In the mid- to late 1990s, Lay's introduced a lower-calorie baked variety, and a fat-free variety (Lay's WOW chips) that contained the fat substitute olestra.

In the 2000s, the company introduced “kettle-cooked” varieties, as well as a more highly processed variety (Lay's Stax) that was intended to compete with Pringles,^[5] and several differently flavored varieties.

In 2012, Frito-Lay products comprised 59% of the United States savory snack-food market.^[6]

In April 2019, PepsiCo's Indian subsidiary sued four farmers in Gujarat, India for copyright infringement, claiming they were growing a variety of potatoes trademarked by the company for exclusive use in its Lay's potato chips.^[7][8] Two years later, the ruling was done in the farmers' favour under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001.^[9]

Frito-Lay primarily uses the brand name "Lay's" in the United States, and uses other brand names in some other countries, including Walkers (UK and Ireland); Smith's (Australia); Chipsy (Egypt^[10] and the West Balkans^[11]); Tapuchips (Israel);^[12] Margarita (Colombia); and Sabritas (Mexico).

As with most snack foods, the Lay's brands contain very few vitamins and minerals in any variety. At ten percent of the daily requirement per serving, vitamin C is the highest. Salt content is particularly high, with a serving containing as much as 380 mg of sodium.^{[citation needed]}

A one-ounce (28 gram) serving of Lay's regular potato chips has 160 Calories, and contains ten grams of fat, with one gram of saturated fat. Kettle-cooked brands have seven to eight grams of fat and one gram of saturated fat, and are 140 Calories. Lay's Natural has nine grams of fat, two grams of saturated fat and 150 Calories. Stax chips typically contain ten grams of fat, 2.5 grams saturated fat and are 160 calories per serving. Wavy Lay's are identical to the regular brand, except for a half-gram less of saturated fat in some combinations. Now the various brands do not contain any trans fats.^{[citation needed]}

A 50 gram serving of Lay's BarBQ chips contains 270 calories, and 17 grams of fat. It also contains 270 mg of sodium, and 15% of the daily recommended dose of Vitamin C.^{[citation needed]}

The baked variety, introduced in the mid 1990s, feature 1.5 grams of fat per one ounce serving, and have no saturated fat. Each serving has 110 to 120 Calories. Lay's Light servings are 75 Calories per ounce and have no fat.^{[citation needed]}

Lay's Classic Potato chips were cooked in hydrogenated oil until 2003.^[13] Currently,^[when?] the chips are made with sunflower, corn and/or canola oil.^{[citation needed]}