This year, snack company Frito-Lay debuted a new, 100-percent biodegradable bag for their multigrain Sun Chips. The only problem: The new packaging is ten times as loud as regular chip bags. Luckily, The Wall Street Journal is on the case.

Since Sun Chips (texture: Like if you chewed up a tortilla chip, spat it out, and then baked it) are Frito-Lay's "healthy" (LOL) snack, they are also the food conglomerate's "environmentally-friendly" snack, probably because if you are the kind of hippie who cares about your body, you probably care about "forests" or whatever, too. And since they're "environmentally-friendly," Frito-Lay has introduced a 100-percent-biodegradable bag, which I guess you are encouraged to just throw out wherever.

But the bag is loud! How loud? Air Force pilot and vlogger J. Scot Heathman (above) says they're louder than the cockpit of his jet. He measured the decibels when he crinkled the bag and found that it produced a sound of 95 dB, more than ten times as loud as regular chips, which maxed out at 79 dB. That's louder than a gas lawnmower (90 dB), and almost as loud as a subway (100 dB)!

What gives? The Journal, which has been fearlessly chasing the story, got hold of their own personal Deep Throat, a "Frito-Lay spokesman":

A Frito-Lay spokesman said: "There are a lot of potential factors that are playing a role and we are looking at all those things." He accepted packaging could be one of those factors.

He doesn't speculate on the other potential factors, one of which is probably that people who eat Sun Chips are whiny sensitive-ear crybabies. But Brad Rogers, Frito-Lay's North American manager of sustainable packaging, knows what the problem is:

The new polymers have a higher "glass transition temperature," which is when a polymer goes from a harder, glasslike state to a rubber state. Because the transition to rubberiness happens a bit above room temperature, the bag is "kind of crispy and crunchy," says Mr. Rodgers.

Ah. Frito-Lay has even been trying to embrace the noise, making signs that say "Yes, the bag is loud, that's what change sounds like." But the people demand to be heard:

A Facebook group called "SORRY BUT I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SUN CHIPS BAG" has attracted 29,949 fans, with many posting outraged comments. It's "the worst when your stoned at 2am and trying to not wake up the house," one person said.

[WSJ]