Pringles exempt from VAT because they are 'not crisps' rules High Court

A Pringle is is not a potato crisp according to a High Court ruling today.

The result means the top-selling snack is exempt from VAT.

It is good news for manufacturers Proctor &Gamble who now stand to save millions of pounds on UK sales.

The ruling came after an exhaustive inquiry into the ingredients, manufacturer and packaging of the snack, which reaches around £500 billion of Worldwide sales per year.

Mr Justice Warren ruled that Pringles were not 'made from the potato' within the definition laid down by the 1994 VAT Act.

To fall within the exception, a product 'must be wholly, or substantially wholly, made from the potato'.

Pringles, he said, were made from potato flour, corn flour, wheat starch and rice flour together with fat and emulsifier, salt and seasoning, with a potato content of around 42per cent.