Chip Flavor Preference Varies By Region (NAPSA)—When reaching for your potato chip flavor of choice, chancesare those chips will be regular flavor. According to a recent Internet survey, Americans prefer regular potato chips by a wide margin over flavored chips. However, second and third flavor preferences or choices vary depending on the region people live in and the interests of those people. Key findings from the survey, conducted by the Snack Food Association and the United States Potato Board in honor of the potato chip’s 150th birthday, follow: 46.7 percent of respondents preferred regular flavored chips; 16.9 percent barbecue; 16 percent sour cream and onion; 8 percent salt and vinegar; 3.9 percent cheese; 3.5 percent hot and spicy; and 2.7 percentdill pickle. * More men prefer barbecue as both a first and second choice; while women choose sour cream and onion more often. A deeper look at the numbers, however, reveal that what part of the country you live in, your favorite type of movie and what type of sport you participate in affects your choice in potato chip flavors. Tennis players pick sour cream and onion potato chips as their favorite more than any other type of sports enthusiast. Gymnasts prefer salt and vinegar; basketball players, hot and spicy; swimmers, cheese; and baseball players, regular. * Science fiction lovers choose barbecue potato chips more than other moviegoers. Suspense moviegoers prefer salt and vinegar; drama, regular; comedy, sour cream; and romance, cheese. While flavored chips are gaining in popularity, regular chips remain America’s favorite. Those in the Pacific states selected barbecue as their favorite flavor of chip more than the people from other regions of the country. East Central, regular; South Central, hot and spicy; Northeast, salt and vinegar. People living in the Southeast and in the West Central part of the U.S. didn’t lead in any flavor. Pacific and South Central selected regular chips as their favorite least often. Quick Quiz 1. How many poundsof potato does it take to make a pound of potato chips? a. 2; b. 3; . 4; d. 5. 2. Sales of which snack had the highest percent growth between 1996 and 2004? a. Meat snacks; b. Tortilla chips; c. Pork rinds; d. Potato chips. 3. Where were potato chips invented? a. San Jose, Calif.; b. Sarasota, Fla.; c. Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; d. San Antonio, Texas. 4. When were barbecue flavored potato chips invented? a. 1899; b. 1924; c. 1939; d. 1954. Answers 1.; 2.a;3.,4.d.
