Doritos Adds Protein So Snacking Counts As Leg Day

PURCHASE, N.Y.—PepsiCo is adding protein to Doritos, and people who finish a bag on the couch are now, by one fictional fitness app's standards, doing a set. The company's functional food push, laid out by Food Dive, is built around the idea that shoppers can personalize their health, and includes Doritos Protein and NKD Doritos, made without artificial colors.

The lineup also includes Propel Clear Protein, with 20 grams of protein, which is aimed in part at people on GLP-1 medications and has resonated with older adults. "It should never be an either-or decision," Sarita Porbandarwala, PepsiCo's senior director of R&D life sciences, told Food Dive.

Gym owners said they were reviewing their policies. "A member came in, handed me an empty bag and asked me to spot him," said Duke Ferraro, a fictional gym owner in Westchester County. "I didn't know what else to do, so I spotted him."

It should never be an either-or decision…

Reasons Given For Opening The Second Bag

It has protein	48%
First bag had protein	26%
Leg day	14%
No reason	12%

Source: Source: Fictional interviews held at a respectful distance from the chip aisle.

PepsiCo is also trimming costs in North America and raising prices on some chips, which a fictional analyst described as the first snack you have to work for twice.

I bought a bag and weighed it. (I weighed it: 92 grams, unopened.) Judge, my scale, held the number for a long time, the way it does when it is thinking. Then I read the ingredients aloud. My kitchen, which has heard a lot of ingredient lists, sat up a little at the word protein.

The Pretzel, for those following, remains 14.0 ounces and 61 twists. Its next weigh-in is in December. It has not been offered protein, and I have not asked whether it wants any.

At press time the man in Westchester County had finished his third bag, asked for a towel and logged it as cardio.

Celeste Abernathy covers packaged goods and weighs everything first. Judge, her kitchen scale, assisted. More from Celeste Abernathy ›

More on Doritos · PepsiCo · Propel Clear Protein