Another line that sneaks some pepper into the mix with salty savoury, Ritz Crisp and Thin have an added bonus of invoking childhood memories of the texture and flavour of KP Wigwams, albeit in a somewhat more refined form. I recall autumn Sunday afternoons, a walk at Rozelle park in Ayr, Pepsi and Wigwams or Rancheros, then home for some Battered Bangers or perhaps sauasage rolls out of a tin– perfection. No wonder I am the epitome of rude health today. Only one in four parents polled said they were “very confident” about portion sizes for their toddler. Whatever it is, an educated guess might conclude that your favourite crisp is probably Irish, because few do it better than we do - this is, after all, the spiritual home of the potato. Think of the rows over Irish Tayto versus UK Tayto, Irish King versus UK King. We’re just really good at crisps. So wouldn’t it make sense that if the best crisps in the whole world were going to be made anywhere, it would be here? We’re not trying to make a health food, but crisps are usually shared. It’s nice for them to be inclusive,” says Sean, referring to the fact that all of their products are naturally gluten-free have no cholesterol, and the salt and vinegar and steak flavours are vegan. Steak-flavoured crisps that have never seen meat? Sean says they don’t need to, that the same flavour compounds can be found through barbecuing vegetables. Climate change is going to change agricultural production: people will eat less meat, there will be finite availability of certain kinds of produce, or at least a higher cost to pay,” she says. “But I think, because flavour is potent in very small quantities, it’s one of the things you’ll be able to expand.” As our food options shrink, Berenstein argues, artificial flavourings could become more prevalent as we look to mix up our limited diets.

Avoid raw eggs, including uncooked cake mixture, homemade ice creams, homemade mayonnaise, or desserts that contain uncooked egg that you cannot confirm are red lion stamped. Rice drinks Children under 5 years old should not have rice drinks as a substitute for breast milk or infant formula (or cows' milk after 1 year old) as they may contain too much arsenic. Nabisco focused its marketing strength behind Walkers, and developed it into a national brand. Walkers took the lead in the crisp market with a 24 percent share in 1983. Golden Wonder had 22 percent and Smith’s/Tudor had 17 percent, followed by KP with 12 percent. Taken collectively, Nabisco had a 41 percent share of the British crisp market. By this time Tudor was considered a downmarket brand. Frank Smith (1875 – 1956) was born in Highgate, London, one of a family of 14. He joined his father’s greengrocers business from the age of ten.The process begins with potatoes getting loaded into a drum and spun around on something similar to a giant emery board to take off excess skin or imperfections. Once smooth, they travel up a conveyor belt and into a huge weighing scale that stops when it reaches the required weight. At the same time the rapeseed oil is heating in what looks like an ogre’s bath. Once it reaches the right temperature, the giant weighing scale starts spitting out potatoes, which go flying into a circular machine, cutting them into slices between 50-70 thousands of an inch, and spinning them out and into the oil below like tiny frisbees. Bags come on a big roll of shiny paper, and are clamped shut on three sides before the crisps drop in. Photograph: Alan Betson Occasionally, honey contains bacteria that can produce toxins in a baby's intestines, leading to infant botulism, which is a very serious illness. The Clintons have been farming potatoes in Skerries, Co Dublin, since the 1700s. Photograph: Alan Betson

Original and best? Despite the plethora of choice, traditional flavours are still popular. Photograph: Les Gibbon/Alamy Golden Wonder had overtaken Smith’s in market share by the end of 1965, and the brand had a market share of 45 percent, against Smith’s 34 percent, by 1966. Clintons have been farming potatoes in Skerries, in north Co Dublin, since the 1700s. Martin Clinton took over from his father, who took over from his, while brother Sean went to college to study food science. Growing up the boys were put to work early. The Clintons have put their life savings into the crisp business, and say they haven’t had a day off in 3½ years, when this idea first started to take shape. The hand-cooked crisp market is growing in double digits each year, and if they can take just a small part of it they will have done what they set out to do – create a viable business that their children can one day take over, that will keep the family doing what they’ve done for generations – growing potatoes in Skerries. Selling out to a bigger company is not part of the grand plan.

M&S

Convincing Martin was the next hurdle. “Farmer’s don’t like change,” laughs Sean. “I had to convince him it was worth the risk to stop growing potatoes for the plate, and start growing ones that make great crisps.” Half to one egg with half to one medium slice of toast or three to six heaped tablespoons of cornflakes also saw Smith’s replace translucent paper (glassine) with cellophane film bags which increased shelf life from a few days to over six weeks. It’s also important that food is not used as a pacifier to calm children down if they are upset as they will see food as a comfort when they grow up.

For Walkers, novelty arrived in 2009 in the form of its “Do us a flavour” competition, which asked the public to come up with seasoning ideas. The winners – among them chilli and chocolate, cajun squirrel and builder’s breakfast – led the way for the brand’s 2010 World Cup range, including yorkshire pudding, bratwurst, garlic bread, salsa, paella and haggis flavours. Since visiting the factory I’ve been doing non-stop taste tests on friends and family. Photograph: Alan Betson They usually only eat what they need and don’t overeat. However, portion size is critical. It’s one of the main ways in which, as parents, we can inadvertently override children’s self-regulation systems.” Children’s dietician and ITF campaigner Judy More on the importance of correct portion size:Smith’s Crisps supplied almost every pub and hotel in Britain in the post-war period, but have since given way to Walkers, which now holds the majority of the market. How did Smith’s lose its position?