As the leaves begin slowly to change color on the trees, so too do the products lining the shelves of our local convenience store. Many products, such as Calbee ç Purple Potato pot of potato chips, can only be bought during a particular season.

These chips are made from an unusual variety of purple potato called Inca Purple grown in Hokkaido that contains a naturally occurring pigment called anthocyanin. While Calbee aren't promoting this snack as a health food, the pigment is an anti-oxidant and has been found to reduce the occurence of stomach cancer in mice.

When we bit into the chip it did taste rather greasy. However, we liked the rough cut natural look of the product and thought that the salt flavor was the perfect complement to its slightly sweet taste. While this purple snack won’t be inspiring any prose of the same hue, we thoroughly recommend it as a more natural alternative to your workaday processed product.

If you'd like to try a pack, don't forget that they'll be off the shelves in three months.