Seed oil-free chips and snacks are THE talk of the wellness space (and have been for a while). And while I am definitely not for fear-mongering or over-restriction, I’m very pro when it comes to reading ingredient labels.
And once you start paying attention to the labels, you realize how many snack foods — even the “healthier” ones — are still loaded with industrial oils and ultra-processed ingredients.
Which is exactly why I wanted to sit down with Steven Rofrano, co-founder of Ancient Crunch: the company behind Masa Chips and Vandy Crisps, both known for their delicious, healthier tallow-fried chips.
But this conversation goes WAY beyond chips into:
- His hilarious turkey fryer founder story
- The shift away from seed oils
- The ancient process of nixtamalization
- The importance of traditional food preparation
So tune in anywhere you listen, watch on Youtube, or keep reading the wellness conversation we’re all ready for on how we moved so far away from real food in the first place.
Binge the blog or tune into the pod ↓
The Story Behind Steven’s Seed Oil Free Chips
When a clean snack company starts with a friendly challenge and a backyard turkey fryer, you know it’s going to be a good one.
Before Steven Rofrano became the co-founder of Ancient Crunch — the company behind Masa Chips and Vandy Crisps — he was just someone frustrated by how hard it had become to find clean ingredient snacks.
Steven shared that he’s always been a chip lover. As a kid, his mom would make nachos after school. Later in college and while living in New York City, chips became his go-to side to his cheese and salami bachelor meals, boasting their lovability for convenience and crunch.
But once he started down that reading-the-label rabbit hole, he realized even the organic chips weren’t so healthy. And then he started spreading a new idea to his friends about how organic tortilla chips could exist using organic corn and beef tallow instead. His friend asked where to buy them.
Steven’s answer? “You can’t. They don’t exist.”
So he made them himself.
What started as experimenting in a turkey fryer in his parents backyard eventually became one of the most talked-about seed oil free chips brands online and is expected to hit $250 million in 2026.
As he put it: “This isn’t health food. It’s just good food that happens to be healthy.”
A true case of give the people what they want, yeah?!
Why More People Are Looking for Seed Oil-Free Snacks
It’s no secret that the conversation around seed oils is absolutely exploding online. Steven explained that a big reason for that shift is simple:
People are becoming more aware of how processed modern food has become.
And because of that, it’s normal to question everything that’s put into our food. Like why do seed oils need to be in every brand of chips, sauces, dressings, and snacks on the market?
Like why are seed oils in almost every brand of chips, sauces, dressings, and snacks?
And how did ultra-processed ingredients become so normal in the first place?
One of the most interesting things Steven said during the episode was:
“Seed oils were the first brand-new food.”
Unlike traditional fats humans had used for generations, industrial seed oils were something entirely new, introduced through modern food manufacturing.
And regardless of your stance on seed oils, you can’t deny how disconnected modern food production has become from traditional food preparation. But you know I’m not one to shift to fear-based wellness, so I loved Steven’s take on the whole seed oil controversy, which he built his brand on.
He said, “People don’t need a master’s degree in nutrition just to buy chips.” You just need to be able to understand ingredients, pay attention to food preparation, and make small healthy snack swaps when you realistically can.
PREACH STEVEN!
That’s probably why so many people are gravitating toward brands like his that are making snacks without seed oil right now. Not because people are trying to cut out every indulgence, but because they’re becoming more curious about what’s actually in their food and how it’s made.
What Is Nixtamalization? The Ancient Process Masa Chips Uses
Steven explained that traditional cultures didn’t just eat corn raw or heavily processed the way modern food companies often do today. They intentionally prepared it.
That process is called nixtamalization.
It involves soaking and cooking corn with limestone before turning it into masa, which helps:
- improve digestibility
- unlock nutrients
- and reduce naturally occurring compounds like anti-nutrients and mycotoxins.
The more we chatted, the more I got to thinking of all the ancestral food preparations that have existed and how they’re often the most healthy form of what we eat: sourdough fermentation, soaking beans, sprouting grains.
Long before they were wellness trends, they were simply how food was traditionally prepared. So the fact that they’ve become a “trend” truly shows you just how much we’ve lost the plot when it comes to food and nourishment.
Which just happens to be Masa Chips / Vandy Crisps / Ancient Crunch’s entire mission. As Steven put it: “You don’t need to reinvent food. You just need to make it the right way again.”
Why Traditional Food Preparation Matters More Than Ever
Somewhere along the way, there was a shift from nourishment to convenience.
How did “healthy food” become associated with powders, bars, preservatives, and ingredient lists that sound like chemistry homework? Meanwhile, some of the best food cultures in the world are still focused on making the BEST version of a traditional recipe instead of trying to reinvent it entirely.
And this is the part of the conversation you need to tune into. The story shifts to Italy, widely recognized as a culinary leader, for some of the simplest meals you’ll eat. We talk about communal cooking, fresh ingredients, and recipes passed down through families.
“There should be no invention in food, like no engineering in food. If you’re going to do any science or engineering, you can do it around the food, but not in the food.”
Which is why traditional food preparation matters more than ever. A cultural art is dying out to faster, cheaper, engineered options.
Brands need to know that we care just as much about HOW the food was prepared as much as the food itself. It’s about where it came from, the care it was given, the people who prepared it. We were never meant to be this disconnected from the food preparation process.
That’s why I’ll gladly give my money to brands like Masa Chips and founders like Steven Rofrano any day.
My Honest Review of Masa Chips & Vandy Crisps
Okay, but let’s get to the important question: do these healthy chips actually taste good?
You could trust me when I say yes, but why don’t you take a real-life review from my youngest son instead, who says Vandy Crisps taste just like, “thick, fat French fries!”
Which happens to make a whole lot of sense after chatting with Steven. He explained the inspiration for their seed oil-free potato chips actually came from wanting them to taste like REAL fries, specifically the kind traditionally cooked in beef tallow in Europe.
My personal favorites (always stocked in my pantry):
- MASA Chips Lime: they’re made with just four clean ingredients: Organic Corn, 100% Grass-Fed Beef Tallow, Sea Salt, and Lime.
- VANDY Crisps Original: That classic, salty potato chip crunch from only Organic Potatoes, 100% Grass-Fed Beef Tallow, and Sea Salt.
But they’ve got so many options: MASA Chips with Hatch Chile and even Churro for my sweet-toothed pals, and VANDY Crisps French Onion or good ol’ Smokehouse BBQ!
A BIG thank you to Steven because you can take 25% OFF your first order with code: TOXICFREEKB from both MASA Chips and Vandy Crisps at checkout!
Listen to the Entire Seed Oil-Free Chips & Snacks Convo on Toxic Free with KB
Except that the entire podcast is about way more than seed oils. And it’s a conversation I think anyone can benefit from, especially if you’ve been starting to pay a little more attention to what those labels have to say.
Come tune in to powerful convos about:
- modern food culture
- convenience vs nourishment
- traditional food preparation
- ingredient awareness
- why so many people are craving food that feels more REAL again.
I immediately grabbed a cookbook and went full analog cooking after this one, so maybe you will, too!
🎧 Listen on Apple or Spotify
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube
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Heads Up, Babe ✨
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I only share products I genuinely use, love, or would recommend to my friends and family. Thanks for supporting Toxic Free with KB and allowing me to continue testing wellness rabbit holes for all of us.
