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Do Irish crisps always go out of date on a Saturday?

The theory exists, so we investigated.

wordpressss Wordpress / IrishAmericanBreakfast Wordpress / IrishAmericanBreakfast / IrishAmericanBreakfast

OF ALL THE quirky theories out there about food, one often pops up in every corner of the internet.

Do crisps always go out of date on a Saturday? It’s talked about a lot, especially in the UK:

yahooanswers Yahoo Yahoo

It even has its own Facebook community:

facecrisp Facebook Facebook

FACT (apparently).

This has spread so much that it is indeed being passed off by people as a real thing:

Tweet by @TheMissNextDoor TheMissNextDoor / Twitter TheMissNextDoor / Twitter / Twitter

Tweet by @Si Si / Twitter Si / Twitter / Twitter

So, DailyEdge.ie went to a shop in Dublin and checked out the situation

It turns out that all brands made outside of Ireland went out of date on… a Saturday.

hulahoops2 Twitter Twitter

It’s true. Multiple packets of Hula Hoops, Walkers, Ritz and Doritos all went out of date on different Saturdays later this year. That accounted for all the non-Irish crisps in the whole shop.

Intriguing.

walkers Twitter Twitter

But when checking the Irish crisps, the theory did not hold up at all

tayto333

Not one packet of Tayto, Hunky Dorys, Chickatees, Snax, King and Chipsticks went out of date on a Saturday. In fact, they were a muddled collection of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

DailyEdge.ie has contacted Largo – the Irish manufacturer of Tayto, King and Hunky Dorys to get to the bottom of why the international crisps go out of date on a Saturday and Irish ones don’t.

There are theories as to why the Saturday rule applies to crisps from across the water

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A forum on singletrackworld asked the question, and one poster seemed to have a legitimate-sounding answer to this quirky question:

Crisps get made in a factory that normally runs Monday to Friday. As the expiry date is so far in the future, crisps manufactured in the same week probably have the same date. And manufacturers would then push it back seven days every week. It’s the same as saying “Week ending”.

DailyEdge.ie awaits comment from Largo on this important issue. The people need answers.

By David Elkin. Originally published on DailyEdge.ie. 

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More A definitive ranking of Irish crisps, from worst to best>

More 7 essential facts about best before dates on food>

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    Mute Owen McDermott
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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:49 PM

    The old chap with the bike at the end of the article – now that’s a real story!

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    Mute TommyJung
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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:59 PM

    Good man. Still going strong. Worth thinking about what this man has seen and experienced in a long life.

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    Mute Redmond Barry
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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:59 PM

    That bike is in good nick for the age of it.

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    Mute Francie Coffey
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    Sep 22nd 2015, 10:08 AM

    Redmond Barry
    the bike is in great nick alright, – replaced the saddle 4 times, the wheels 6 times, and the frame, pedals & handlebars twice.
    All jokes aside, a man to be greatly admired.

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    Mute TheGor Gorry
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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:23 PM

    Nice, I enjoyed this article, please do another town, then another

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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Sep 21st 2015, 10:58 PM

    Humans of Waterford next.

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    Mute Rob O'Farrell
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    Sep 21st 2015, 10:53 PM

    No. 7 engaged ?? A combined age of 31 will you stop.

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    Mute TommyJung
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    Sep 21st 2015, 11:38 PM

    Los Vegas here we come.

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    Mute Maggie
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    Sep 22nd 2015, 5:27 AM

    Thought it was a gay story actually ha

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    Mute Lou Tennant
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    Sep 21st 2015, 8:49 PM

    This headline takes some beating by journal and daily edge standards. worst ever

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    Mute Powerful Sayings
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    Sep 21st 2015, 8:50 PM

    whats wrong with it?

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    Mute Lou Tennant
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    Sep 21st 2015, 8:53 PM

    Ah heeyor

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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:12 PM

    I would imagine having your heart melted would actually be extremely painful.

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    Sep 21st 2015, 9:30 PM

    Melt your head more like.

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    Mute johnnyblaze2004
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    Sep 21st 2015, 11:05 PM

    how about coming up with an original idea for once Dublin?

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    Mute Rachel Ray
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    Sep 21st 2015, 10:49 PM

    it’s always about Dublin. ah sure never mind the rest of us!!!!

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    Mute Rashers Tierney
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    Sep 21st 2015, 11:20 PM

    I presume this Varga guy was in Dublin when he did his interviews. Otherwise it could be ‘Humans of Hackballscross ” or some other charming title. Why are people blaming Dublin? Get on Mr Varga’s case about it. :-)

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    Mute Owen McDermott
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    Sep 22nd 2015, 11:30 AM

    What about “Cute Hoors of Cork”?

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    Mute gary kelly
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    Sep 21st 2015, 11:24 PM

    Number 7 = cracker

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 23rd 2015, 11:45 PM

    How can one story compare to another, they can’t.

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