WEBVTT - Are Pringles Really Potato Chips?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam. Here, chances are you probably haven't given

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<v Speaker 1>much thought to any given can of Pringles other than

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<v Speaker 1>wondering how do I get the last few potato chips

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<v Speaker 1>out of the tube. As it turns out, this salty

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<v Speaker 1>snack has quite a story. It once was in the

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<v Speaker 1>middle of a massive controversy that questioned the ingredients and

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<v Speaker 1>whether the chips were actually potato chips at all. From

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand seven to two thousand nine, the makers of

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<v Speaker 1>the Once You Pop, you Can't stop chips stood in

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<v Speaker 1>front of three different levels of the British judiciary trying

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<v Speaker 1>to defend the decision that Pringles chips were not by definition,

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<v Speaker 1>potato chips, or, in British parlance, potato crisps. Here's how

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<v Speaker 1>this comically complicated problem started. In the mid twentieth century,

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<v Speaker 1>at tax was borne by way of France and England,

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<v Speaker 1>called the value added tax. This consumption tax started off

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<v Speaker 1>as a ten percent tax on all goods bought from

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<v Speaker 1>a business. More than of the world's tax revenue comes

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<v Speaker 1>from the value added tax, making it a pretty big deal.

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<v Speaker 1>In Britain. Most foods are exempt from the value added

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<v Speaker 1>tax except for potato chips or similar products made from

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<v Speaker 1>the potato or from potato flour. This led to a

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<v Speaker 1>long arduous journey to figure out whether or not pringles,

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<v Speaker 1>which by the way, were once touted as the new

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<v Speaker 1>fangled potato chip, were actually potato chips. If they were

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<v Speaker 1>ruled as chips, Pringle's parent company at the time, Proctoring Gamble,

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<v Speaker 1>would be subject to a seventeen point five percent value

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<v Speaker 1>added tax. Proctoring Gamble's initial argument was that no pringles

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<v Speaker 1>were not potato chips because they didn't quote contain enough

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<v Speaker 1>potato to have the quality of potato nous. They also

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<v Speaker 1>argued pringles didn't resemble the shape of a potato chip

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<v Speaker 1>and were therefore instead a savory snack. In two eight

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<v Speaker 1>a Lower British court agreed and ruled the pringles were

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<v Speaker 1>in fact not potato chips, mainly because they contain only

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<v Speaker 1>potato and had a quote shape not found in nature.

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<v Speaker 1>The rest of pringles, by the way, is mostly wheat, starch,

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<v Speaker 1>and flowers of corn rice and again potato. But just

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<v Speaker 1>a year later, in two thousand nine, the Court of

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<v Speaker 1>Appeal re examined and reversed that decision, calling Procter and

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<v Speaker 1>Gamble's argument that the ingredients of a product don't define

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<v Speaker 1>the product quote hogwash. But with that decision, the Behemoth

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<v Speaker 1>Corporation had to pay a hundred and sixty million dollars

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<v Speaker 1>in taxes while begrudgingly calling their new fangled potato chips

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<v Speaker 1>well potato chips. And that is the story of Pringles

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<v Speaker 1>and its brief dance with the intersecting worlds of taxation,

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<v Speaker 1>junk food, and British judges. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Jerby Glass and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on us and lots of other fun don't stop topics,

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