Corn Chip Left on Surface Overnight—Shock at What’s There in the Morning

A Redditor left a corn chip out overnight, and the internet is reeling from the amount of oil that seeped out of it.

User u/raedioactive99 shared a photo of the chip placed on a piece of paper, surrounded by a distinct ring of oil. The image quickly went viral, racking up over 67,000 upvotes in the popular subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating.

“The amount of oil that came out of this corn chip overnight,” the original poster captioned the image.

The greasy revelation sparked a wider discussion about what exactly goes into our favorite salty snacks. To better understand what might be happening in that photo, Newsweek reached out to Kelly LeBlanc, a registered dietitian and director of nutrition at Oldways.

“From the photo alone, it is difficult to quantify the amount of oil that seeped from the chip. However, to know how much oil is in your chips, you can look at the nutrition facts panel and see how much fat is in a serving of the chips, and then divide by the number of chips per serving. The ingredient list will also detail which type of oil was used. Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil tend to be the most commonly used oils we see in products like this,” she said.

LeBlanc emphasized that when it comes to added fats, the type is more important than the amount.

She explained that research consistently shows unsaturated fats—such as those found in olive oil, avocados, and seed oils like canola oil—are associated with a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to saturated fats, which are found in ingredients like beef tallow or butter.

She also noted that it’s important to consider whether the added oil is being used to support the consumption of a healthy food group, such as whole grains and seeds, or if it’s simply a vehicle for added sugars, refined grains, and artificial colors.

The post prompted hundreds of Redditors to chime in with stories, jokes, and fire-related experiments involving chips.

“My sister’s ex drove deliveries for Frito Lay. He always had stales around and we used them as fire starters. The Cheetos worked the best. Fun colors too,” shared one user.

“Side note: set a corn chip on fire and watch it drip oil. You might end up with more oil than you had corn chip. Makes you think about that junk food as junk. It’s 80 percent oil; you’ll see,” suggested another.

“Ahh the perfect oil circle is so satisfying,” said another viewer.

“Chips look so innocent and are so tasty/crunchy but by weight they are f***** dreadful for us. Processed sugar, soda, and chips are responsible for so much weight gain,” one commenter added.

Newsweek reached out to u/raedioactive99 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.

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