Jerry Wilson Over Coffee Appearing each Wednesday in the Edinburgh Courier, the weekly newspaper in Edinburgh, Indiana and periodically in Indiana's Daily Journal newspaper.

Oct. 3, 2000

Dieters Find New Snack Craze

Quick! What snack food has seen its sales grow three times faster than other snacks over the past three years?

If you're thinking potato chips, pretzels, popcorn or those low-fat snack crackers, think again.

Don't squeal in dismay, but the salty snack that is becoming increasingly popular these days is the lowly pork rind.

Pork rinds are made from slices of pig skin, often fried in lard or oil, or puffed up in a microwave oven.

Pork rinds, sometimes called pork skins, bacon curls or chicharrones, have been shunned as a snack food by many health-conscious consumers over the years. They were thought to be a heart attack waiting to happen. After all, what could be unhealthier than thick slices of pig skin cooked in lard?

Well, think again. Many dieters are now rooting for pork rinds as a healthier alternative to the ubiquitous potato chip or corn chip as a way to satisfy their desire for a salty and crunchy snack. In fact, those dieters who are limiting their intake of carbohydrates instead of counting calories are thought to be behind the recent upswing in the sales of pork rinds.

According to The Snack Food Association, sales of pork rinds are up by 18 percent this year, compared to increased sales of about 6 percent for other salty snacks.

And sales are up locally, too. Danny Grider, meat manager at Edinburgh's Jay-C Food Store, said sales of pork rinds have doubled over the past year or so.

When asked if pork rinds are selling better these days, he answered, "Oh my gosh, yes. They go like crazy. We're selling twice as many as we used to."

Allen Burton, a local distributor of Porkies pork rinds and cracklings, says his sales have increased substantially this year, too.

"The popularity of the low-carbohydrate diet has helped sales a lot," he said.

In fact, Burton is trying to expand his operation to include selling his products over the Internet. He even places them up for auction on eBay.

Most dietitians, of course, scoff at the idea of eating pork rinds to lose weight. They point out that a half-ounce serving of pork rinds, about one cup, contains 5 grams of fat, 9 grams of protein and 80 calories. That certainly is true, but a single serving of potato chips has 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein and 140 calories.

Regardless of the reasons behind the increasing popularity of pork rinds, the fact remains that more people than ever are pigging out on the snacks. They are now fried fresh and sold at carnivals and fairs.

On the day of the Fall Festival Parade in Edinburgh last month, there were two vendors frying pork rinds on the spot and selling them to hungry parade watchers.

Despite the warnings of intransigent dietitians, pork rinds have proven themselves to the public. People have found that their cholesterol levels do not skyrocket, that their blood pressure does not go up and that their hearts are not clogging with fat as a result of eating pork rinds -just the opposite, in fact.

Although some people do not like the taste of pork rinds, or the thought of eating them, statistics continue to show that the public is warming up big time to this once-maligned snack food.

Move over, popcorn.

Copyright © 2001 by Jerry Wilson. Get permission to reprint this article.