I would like to begin this piece by declaring that I am not a Kardashian hater in any way
I'm currently wearing Kylie Jenner's Moonstone Velvet Brew fragrance. This morning I brushed my hair with the Skims x Tangle Teezer hairbrush, and last night before bed I took one of Lemme's Relax Magnesium gummies. I am all for supporting the billion-dollar family in their quest for world domination.
But what I am not all for is nonsense. And Khloe Kardashian's newest product launch feels like nonsense. The latest drop from the Kardashian-Jenner empire? Collagen crisps, or chips as they call them in the US.
© InstagramKhloe Kardashian and collagen
In Khloe's defence, she has worked in the collagen realm for years. Back in 2020, she joined wellness startup Dose & Co as 'partner and global spokesperson', singing the praises of their collagen creamers.
Since then, she's launched her own wellness brand, Khloud, selling protein popcorn and protein chips, and now she's entered the collagen space again with her 'collagen chips', and I had to roll my eyes at this one.
Each bag of Khloe's collagen chips promises to deliver 17g of protein, plus 2g of hydrolysed collagen. Flavours include nacho, sweet heat, buffalo, and jalapeno. They're sold exclusively at Walmart in the US, with the tagline: "Fuel your body while supporting your glow."
As with everything Kardashian-adjacent, the crisps have attracted serious attention and praise – but I'm not sure they deserve it.
© InstagramAre collagen crisps going to make any difference to my skin?
If you've spent any time looking into collagen supplements (and I can assure you, I have), you'll know that collagen supplementation doesn't really work like that.
Every study on collagen supplements shows that a genuine skin benefit relies on a specific, low molecular weight peptide the body can actually absorb. Plus, it needs to be taken consistently over eight to 12 weeks. So nibbling on a bag of nachos isn't going to give the desired glow.
On top of that, Khloe and Khloud haven't disclosed what type of collagen is used or its molecular weight, only that it's 'hydrolysed,' which supports digestibility but says nothing about whether the resulting peptides are small enough to reach the skin.
One person I trust when it comes to debunking collagen myths is Elissa Corrigan, who is the founder of supplement brand Elle Sera, a brand she created after spending years working with women on health retreats. She views all collagen supps with a hefty dose of scepticism, and rightfully so,
"I feel like I'm the only person left on God's green earth asking what happens after we swallow these ingredients," she lamented.
"We've become completely obsessed with format, collagen in coffee, gummies, chocolate and now crisps, when the far more interesting questions are: what dose are you getting, in what form, and what evidence is there that it's actually going to deliver the benefit you think you're buying?"
Elissa continues: "These crisps claim to contain two grams of hydrolysed collagen. Fine. But simply putting collagen on an ingredients list doesn't magically turn a packet of crisps into a 'glow' product."
On the trend for collagen everything, Elissa bemoans: "Collagen has become such a powerful wellness buzzword that you can put it into almost anything and suddenly give an everyday snack a health halo."
Collagen in food is nothing new
It’s not that collagen existing in food isn't feasible, she points out, bringing the humble pork scratching to the table. "Pork skin is naturally rich in collagen. Connective tissue in meat contains collagen. But we don't wander around calling pork scratchings a beauty supplement," she says.
Elissa says that it's not impossible to add collagen into a crisp, but it's the question of whether the dose, formulation and delivery have been designed to achieve anything meaningful in the body.
© InstagramKardashians and body standards
As with many things relating to Kim, Khloe and co, my concern comes down in part to appearance. The women in the family are scrutinised and praised in equal measure for their bodies – Khloe in particular, who was always called 'the fat sister' and now is as slim as supermodel Kendall.
© InstagramIn my mind it feels like Khloe is trying to say, "Look, you can eat this 'naughty' snack, because I've added collagen to it." Snackmaxxing, if you will.
Elissa agrees: "Consumers are increasingly being sold the idea that adding one fashionable functional ingredient somehow upgrades a snack. Sometimes I think we simply want permission to eat the rubbish we already enjoy but feel virtuous while doing it."
The bottom line? Yes, adding collagen to crisps makes it trendy, and makes it feel like it's benefitting you in the same way a protein bar or yoghurt might, but Elissa laments that the presence of collagen alone tells us very little about what that product is actually going to do for our skin.
"That's the conversation I wish we were having: not 'what can we put collagen into next?' but does the formulation actually deliver a meaningful benefit? Because those are two very different things. It's ridiculous."
You might say that there's no harm in adding collagen to crisps, chocolate and more; it's not going to hurt – and I'd agree. But it's not cool to say the crisps will give you a glow. For that, you'll need to use Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics makeup and herK20 hyaluronic acid drinks, obviously…
