People generally refer to the product Fritos brand corn chips as simply fritos. These are curved, flat rectangles of corn and oil - usually yellowish in color. The jumbo sized ones are actually a good shape for scooping up salsa but the more ubiqutous little ones aren't much good for anything.

Fritos are a crunchy corn chip snack and a flag product of Frito-Lay.

Here, to satisfy your craving for knowledge, is the history of the corn chip known as Fritos as found on the Frito-Lay official website.

1932
Elmer Doolin pays $100 for a unique recipe for corn chips and begins The Frito Company in San Antonio. FRITOS® brand Corn Chips are born.
1945
The Frito Company grants the H.W. Lay & Company an exclusive franchise to manufacture and distribute FRITOS® Corn Chips in the Southeast.
1949
The words "FRITOS®, Golden Chips of Corn" are printed on bags of FRITOS® brand Corn Chips.
1953
The Frito Kid is introduced. He retires in 1967.
1956
The Frito Kid appears on the Today Show with Dave Garroway. The Frito Company is the first Texas company to advertise on the NBC television network.
1958
FRITOS® brand Corn Chips introduces a new theme - "Munch a Bunch! of FRITOS® brand Corn Chips."
1959
Vice President Richard Nixon takes FRITOS® to Nikita Krushchev.
1961
The Frito Company and the H.W. Lay Company merge to form Frito-Lay, Inc.
1971
W.C. FRITOS® is introduced as the new mascot for FRITOS® brand Corn Chips, a caricature of the actor, W. C. Fields.
1986
FRITOS® brand WILD N' MILD RANCH® Flavored Corn Chips are introduced.
1991
"Munch a Bunch of FRITOS® brand Corn Chips Right Now!" theme from 1958 is modified and re-introduced.
For the first time in 58 years, FRITOS® brand Corn Chips packaging is redesigned with brighter colors and an updated logo.
1993
"I know What I Like and I Like FRITOS® brand Corn Chips" advertising campaign is introduced with a country music theme, featuring singer Mark Chesnutt.
1994
FRITOS® brand SCOOPS!™ brand Corn Chips introduced nationally.
FRITOS® SCOOPS!™ Corn Chips sponsors a national concert series with country music star Reba McEntire.
1996
FRITOS® brand Texas Grill introduces two flavors: Sizzlin' Fajita and Honey BBQ. Over 400,000 bags are offered to consumers through a Reba McEntire call-in promotion.

Snackwise, if you are looking for something nice and crunchy that goes well with salsa, or the very tasty side treat Bean Dip, Fritos are your bag. If there's anything about this delightful snack that is complaint-worthy, it would be the high caloric and fatty nature. As noted on the back, a serving is considered to be 28g (about 32 chips) and the traditional Big Grab bag is 63.7g net wt.

And just what is it that we are putting into our bodies whenever we down an irresistable handful of the corny goodness? Here are the ingredients: corn, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, sunflower, or partially hydrogenated sunflower oil), salt. One of the shorter ingredients lists available in the snack-food kingdom. But much like the nutritional info, the ingredients list is quite oily.

Speaking of nutritional information, here it is, for your edification. Please note, this is the information for one serving. If you eat a whole Big Grab bag, you're getting 2.5 times the values listed. Calories - 160, 90 from fat. Total Fat - 10g (16%), Saturated Fat - 1.5g (7%), Cholesterol - 0mg (0%), Sodium - 170mg (7%), Total Carbohydrate - 15g (5%), Dietary Fiber - 1g (4%), Sugars - less than 1g, Protein - 2g. Vitamin A - 0%, Vitamin C - 0%, Calcium - 2%, Iron - 0%. Percentage values are, as on nearly every other Nutritional listing, based upon a 2000 calorie diet.

A song my dad would always sing when he felt like being a dork more than usual:

Ay yay yay yi
I am the Frrrito Bandito!
I love Fritos cornchips, I love them, I do
I want Fritos cornchips, I'll take them from you
Ay yay yay yi
I am the Frrrito Bandito!

He always attributed it to commercials he heard as a kid which were discontinued because they weren't politically correct. (A Hispanic Hamburger Burglar type insinuates all Hispanics are thieves was the reasoning.)

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