Last night, I opened a bag of nacho chips (I won't say the brand) and the chips were somewhat blackened. And there was a fairly big lump of charcoal in the bag. Can anyone guess what this might be? I'm guessing that the charcoal was used for cooking, and somehow got into the bag?

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As above, so below

Can you say for sure that it was charcoal?
I seriously doubt that charcoal would be used in making nacho chips. Even in smoked food, it is done chemically nowadays.

My guess is that it was just a clump of whatever flavor coating they use that was overcooked (blackened) that made it in.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Corn chips (I assume that's what you mean by nacho chips) are made from corn masa,which is then lightly heated on a griddle (most likely when they got the burn spots) then deep-fried.The charcoal whatever is probably a chunk of something from the bottom of the fry vat,unappetizing but harmless.

Take 'em back & get a new bag!

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"An armed man is a citizen
An unarmed man is a subject"

Robert A. Heinlein

Yeah, I've gotten an extremely well done chip a time or two. Blackened chicken, pretty good; blacked chip, not so good.

I've also gotten a Dorito that had hung out a very long time in the power application part. That sucker was nearly a quarter inch thick in power.

I've never had a chip that could provide it's own power. Powder, on the other hand...

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Well, if it has enough chili powder or garlic...

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Heh, oops. Well if it doesn't light me up, then it's a boring chip.

Well, then you will find this to be a very exciting chip.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

Actually, I assume tortilla chip, which is often also made from masa (corn masa's redundant!), except when it's flour. Either way, no charcoal, just overcooked bits.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

My girlfriend was eating tortilla chips the other night and got one (actually looked like two or three) that managed to get rolled up into a tube like a cigarette or something. From the sound it made when she chomped on it, I'd guess it also got stuck somewhere in the baking process for a little longer than it was suppose to. I thought she was going to lose a tooth! Uncharacteristically, she didn't complain or say "ouch", just moved on to the next chip.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

Now, THERE'S a trooper for ya!

Charcoal in the chips would be a good 'built-in' fix for gas in the tummy.

They could be called 'Fer Sittin' chips', 'No Fluffle Ruffles', 'Fart-free fritos', etc.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

'Laxative Loops', oh wait, they did that with Olestra already.