Pringles 'are not potato crisps'

darkman2

bbc

Pringles 'are not potato crisps'

Potato only makes up 42% of the ingredients of Pringles.
Pringles, the popular snack food in a tube, are not potato crisps, a High Court judge has ruled.

Their packaging, "unnatural shape" and the fact that the potato content is less than 50% helped Mr Justice Warren make his crunch decision.

As a result, Pringles, in all flavours are free from Value Added Tax (VAT).

Manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G) is likely to save millions of pounds as a result of the decision - with customers also likely to pay less.

Spud impact

P&G had gone to court to challenge a VAT and Duties Tribunal decision that the Pringle was subject to the standard 17.5% rate of VAT because it was it was "a potato crisp product", which are, unlike most food, subject to the tax.

But the manufacturer had insisted that their best-selling product was not similar to potato crisps, because of their "mouth melt" taste, "uniform colour" and "regular shape" which "is not found in nature".

It also argued that potato crisps - unlike Pringles - did not contain non-potato flours, and were not packaged in tubes.

Pringles are more like a cake or a biscuit, it claimed, because they are manufactured from dough.

Mr Justice Warren ruled that Pringles were not "made from the potato" - as set out in the definition laid down by the 1994 VAT Act.

To be subject to VAT, a product "must be wholly, or substantially wholly, made from the potato".

But he said that Pringles did not meet these criteria - being made from potato flour, corn flour, wheat starch and rice flour together with fat and emulsifier, salt and seasoning, with a potato content of about 42%.

Taking the biscuit

Separately, the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation have decided - after seven years of debate - what qualifies as a proper tomato.

The ruling means tomatoes may be round, ribbed, oblong or elongated, or can be cherry tomatoes or cocktail tomatoes. Other characteristics include being clean, whole, fresh in appearance, and free from foreign smells and pests.

Earlier this year the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the UK Treasury had wrongly imposed VAT on a Marks and Spencer teacake. Customers paid VAT for 20 years before the authorities accepted the product was a cake, which does not command VAT.

Under UK tax rules, most traditional bakery products such as bread, cakes, flapjacks and Jaffa Cakes are free of VAT, but the tax is payable on cereal bars, shortbread and partly-coated or wholly-coated biscuits.

*shocked*

Sherifu

This is Sparta! madness!

Terry

Does that apply here?
Cheaper pringles for all.

hermit

we'll be a long time waiting to see a reduction in the sale price as a result of this.... but hey P&G's executives will get a wage rise with all that extra profit.... niiiiice.... (for them, obviously)!!!

Dragan

When i was a kid we went over to England to visit family. I was about 12 at the time. I walked into a shop and asked for a packet of "taytos" and the guy behind the counter looks at me and says "over here we call them crisps". I said, "Fine, give me some crisps then you cnut" and was swiftly slapped about the ear by my father.

No real idea why that came back to me there.

On topic, those dirty lying bastards.

PurpleBerry

So, what do we refer to them as now?

"Potato slices", I assume, is also out?

(I call chips "potato fingers")

Earthhorse

The designer of the Pringles tube had some of his ashes buried inside a tube when he died. So that one definitely isn't.

Link.

Ruu_Old

Faux crisps. \o/ I can't fault them though for a $1 a tube.

whiskeyman

Interesting.
Very similar to the Jaffa cake vs biscuit case.
http://www.educationet.org/messageboard/posts/38833.html

TeletextPear

Dragan wrote: »

When i was a kid we went over to England to visit family. I was about 12 at the time. I walked into a shop and asked for a packet of "taytos" and the guy behind the counter looks at me and says "over here we call them crisps". I said, "Fine, give me some crisps then you cnut" and was swiftly slapped about the ear by my father.

No real idea why that came back to me there.

On topic, those dirty lying bastards.

heh, i lol'd :pac:

Cool_CM

Did they ever actually call them potato crisps? I've got a tube of Texas BBQ next to me at the moment(sweet texas bbq) and they're called "Savoury Snacks". I don't care, I'll still eat them

Terry

There was an episode of "How it's made" which...
Well, it's pretty self explanitory.

whiskeyman

Cool_CM wrote: »

Did they ever actually call them potato crisps? I've got a tube of Texas BBQ next to me at the moment(sweet texas bbq) and they're called "Savoury Snacks". I don't care, I'll still eat them

Pretty sure the TV ads had 'Pringles Potato Chips'.

The .com site on google has 'Fun information site from the maker of Pringles potato chips', but they just seem to referened as 'chips' within the site.

Cool_CM

whiskeyman wrote: »

Pretty sure the TV ads had 'Pringles Potato Chips'.

The .com site on google has 'Fun information site from the maker of Pringles potato chips', but they just seem to referened as 'chips' within the site.

Im in Germany, maybe they gave up calling them that a while ago, just like they're not allowed to call gmail "gmail" here anymore.

Wertz

Ruu wrote: »

Faux crisps. \o/ I can't fault them though for a $1 a tube.

As opposed to the €2.40 we pay in good old Ireland..lol if anything the government here will add more to the price for some reason...

Marcus.Aurelius

Wertz wrote: »

As opposed to the €2.40 we pay in good old Ireland..lol if anything the government here will add more to the price for some reason...

Excess Flavouring Tax or potato-dough tax

Fianna Fáil - Anything to rob the middle classes

Kold

Wait, they're exempt from a tax rate because there's more MSG than potato?

Sherifu

Kold wrote: »

Wait, they're exempt from a tax rate because there's more MSG than potato?

Cool, huh?

GhostInTheRuins

Neesa wrote: »

So, what do we refer to them as now?

Pringles

Wertz

Kold wrote: »

Wait, they're exempt from a tax rate because there's more MSG than potato?

This must mean that the price of chinese takeaways is set to plummet...

Tar.Aldarion

Yeah, so not a crisp. Namby-pampy!
Next it'll be Hula Hoops!

sweet-rasmus

thx for that most interesting bit of news i've heard all day

Supercell

Dragan wrote: »

When i was a kid we went over to England to visit family. I was about 12 at the time. I walked into a shop and asked for a packet of "taytos" and the guy behind the counter looks at me and says "over here we call them crisps". I said, "Fine, give me some crisps then you cnut" and was swiftly slapped about the ear by my father.

No real idea why that came back to me there.

On topic, those dirty lying bastards.

I laughed out loud, you sir, are my hero (in a manly way).

simu

That was obvious - do you people not have taste buds? They taste of hydrogenation or sth!

kraggy

Not surprised.

They're the most sickening piece of **** on the market.

unkel

That's nothing. Them Brits think there's chicken in the chicken nuggets they feed their young

Tar.Aldarion

mmm fish paste.