Salt 'n' Shake
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's oldest crisp brands, originally manufactured by The Smith's Snackfood Company
The Smith's Snackfood Company
The Smith's Snackfood Company is a company best known for producing and selling a range of snack food such as crisps. It is now owned by New York based company PepsiCo.-Smiths in the UK:...
. They are most notable for containing a blue sachet
Sachet
A sachet or packet, is a small disposable bag or pouch, often used to contain single-use quantities of foods or consumer goods, such as shampoo....
containing 0.6g of salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, allowing the purchaser to salt the crisps to their own taste.
According to the packet, Salt 'n' Shake was created by Frank Smith and was first sold in pubs in Cricklewood
Cricklewood
Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of Brent and southeastern part is in London Borough of Camden.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the 1920s. Because the salt cellars he provided were being emptied so rapidly by pub visitors, Smith began to sell the packets with a small blue sachet of salt, the tradition of which continues to this day. The brand is at present owned by Walkers
Walkers (snack foods)
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
.
The crisps were originally called Salt 'n' Shake, but was retitled Salt & Shake when the crisps were relaunched by Walkers in January 2003. It was the January 2003 relaunch, accompanied by an advert starring Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
, that sees the crisps' latest packaging.