Consumer rejection of potato chips during storage at 30 °C was tested by asking to sniff or taste the product. Oxidation development was also monitored by determining peroxide value (PV) during storage. Rejection upon tasting did not change significantly during storage. On the contrary, rejection upon sniffing progressively increased and resulted well correlated with the evolution of PV. The shelf-life of chips stored at different temperature (20–50 °C) was estimated considering as acceptability limits 25 and 50% of consumers rejecting the product upon sniffing. The obtained shelf life resulted much shorter than that generally attributed to potato chips by producers, as assessed by a market survey. Results show that potato chips containing significant levels of hydroperoxides are rejected by consumers only upon sniffing, which rarely happens in real consumption conditions. The mismatching between the sensory perception of chips oxidation and their peroxide value opens possible safety issues.
