FAQs

MASA is the name of our signature tortilla chip brand, made with just three simple ingredients: organic corn, grass-fed tallow, and sea salt.

The name MASA also comes from the traditional food “masa,” a dough made from nixtamalized corn (corn that’s soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution). Masa has been used for centuries in Mexican and Central American cooking to make tortillas, tamales, and other staple foods.

We chose the name because we honor that tradition and use real organic corn the way it’s meant to be used.

Our chips contain no seed oils, no artificial additives, and no processed fillers. Just real, traditional ingredients that create a cleaner, richer flavor than leading mass-produced chip brands.

MASA is not fully certified organic. We choose organic ingredients where it matters most and intentionally source non-organic when it delivers better quality. For example, organic tallow doesn’t have to be 100% grass-fed and to us, grass-fed is far more important, especially since most top ranches aren’t certified organic.

Our corn is 100% certified organic, which is critical since conventional corn is heavily sprayed with harmful pesticides. Most of our spices are organic as well, with a few exceptions clearly noted on the label.

No, corn is not keto-friendly. However, due to the combination of whole grain and saturated fat, customers who have monitored their blood sugar using a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) while eating MASA have reported minimal blood sugar spikes. (Not guaranteed)

No additives, including deodorizers or solvents, are used in making the tallow.

Yes, the tallow comes from 100% grass fed cows. Raised right here in the United States. 

MASA is made in the northeastern US in small batches. Our corn comes from regional farms in New England, New York and Massachusetts. Our tallow from farms in the midwest, salt from Utah, and spices from around the world. 

Standard FDA-approved food packaging called MET-PET.

No, there are no preservatives! However, the bags are packed with nitrogen, which reduces the oxygen in the bag. This provides protection against oxidation and rancidity without altering the food's chemistry. 

We promise your bag has the full labeled amount of chips (either 5 oz or 12 oz). The extra space at the top is filled with nitrogen, which works like an air pillow to keep your chips from getting crushed on their way to you.

Think of it as a freshness + crunch protector—not less chips.

Tallow is the pure fat that comes out of fatty meat when you heat it. Like bacon fat, but from cows.

“Nixtamalization” is an ancient process invented thousands of years ago by the Aztecs to improve the nutrition and digestibility of corn.

It involves boiling the corn with natural minerals from limestone, which makes the corn more digestible, neutralizes mycotoxins and anti-nutrients, and makes nutrients like Vitamin B3 more bioavailable.

The result is a healthier, tastier food that maximizes the nutrient potential of one of the world’s oldest crops.

Our corn is organically grown without harmful pesticides by small regional farmers, resulting in a chip that is both better for you and the planet.

No, while the beef tallow comes 100% grass fed cattle, they are conventionally slaughtered and therefore not kosher or halal.

Our chips have a shelf life of 120 days from the date of production. You’ll find the exact “Best By” date printed on every bag.

Because we use tallow instead of industrial seed oils, our chips naturally have a shorter shelf life than most conventional chips (which often last 9+ months due to heavy processing and chemical deodorization that masks oxidation).

Tallow is a traditional, stable fat—not chemically altered—so we keep things clean, simple, and real.

And honestly… we doubt they’ll last anywhere near 120 days in your pantry. 😉

MASA Chips are made without nuts, gluten, dairy, and seed oils, processed exclusively at our facility. While we strive to avoid cross-contamination, please note that we do not yet have certifications to fully guarantee the absence of these allergens.

No. Our organic corn is not fortified and does not contain added folic acid. We use real, non-fortified organic corn to keep our ingredients as simple and natural as possible.

The date listed on your MASA chips is the 'consume by' date to ensure you enjoy our products at their best quality. Our chips have a shelf life of 120 days from production.

“Seed oils” (often called vegetable oils) are oils that are industrially extracted from seeds like canola, soybean, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, peanut, and rice bran. These oils are commonly used in processed foods because they’re inexpensive and widely available.

We fry our chips in 100% beef tallow, not seed oils. This gives our chips their signature flavor and keeps the ingredient list simple.

Seed oils come from the small amount of natural oil found inside seeds like canola, soybean, safflower, sunflower, and cottonseed. To turn those tiny amounts into large volumes of oil, manufacturers use industrial extraction methods. This usually involves:

• High heat to break down the seed and release the oil

• Mechanical pressing

• Chemical solvents (commonly hexane) to pull out even more oil

• Refining steps such as bleaching, deodorizing, and heating to very high temperatures

These refining steps help make the oils shelf-stable and neutral in flavor, which is why they are widely used in processed foods.

We fry our chips in 100% beef tallow, a stable cooking fat with a long history of use. This helps us avoid seed oils entirely and keep our chips as simple as possible.

The short answer: we feel and look better when we avoid them.

Don't believe us? Just give them up and see for yourself.

As for the long answer, well—seed oils are an inherently processed food. They did not exist more than 150 years ago, before the invention of the industrial equipment and chemicals needed to process them. In 1900, they were 0% of our calories. Today, they represent over 20% of all calories.

This is a problem because seed oils are highly inflammatory.

They contain a high concentration of poly-unsaturated fats (PUFAs), which are chemically unstable and oxidize very easily. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that produces free radicals, which are inflammatory molecules that tear apart your cells (often called "oxidative stress"). Leading nutritionists have identified chronic inflammation as a main driver of all the diseases no one wants, like diabetes, cancer, Alzheimers,  PCOS, IBS, and more.

While those diseases develop over many years, in the short term seed oils can also cause bloating, bad skin, cellulite, fatigue, estrogen dominance, and blood sugar spikes. Simply put, they are stressful on every part of your body, and chronic stress kills.

You can follow us at @masa_chips on instagram and twitter, or read through the excellent resources at linktr.ee/seedoilsensitivity

There’s growing concern from consumers who prefer to avoid highly processed oils. During industrial extraction and high-heat refining, seed oils can develop oxidation byproducts and unstable fats, which some people believe may contribute to inflammation or other unwanted health effects when consumed in large amounts. Because of this, many customers choose simpler, traditionally made fats.

Nope! In fact, grass-fed tallow is considered one of the more environmentally friendly cooking fats. Tallow is a natural byproduct of raising cattle, it’s not something that requires additional crops, land, or heavy industrial processing to produce. Using tallow helps ensure the entire animal is utilized, which reduces waste.

Grass-fed cattle also graze on land that often can’t be used for crops. When well-managed, grazing can support soil health, biodiversity, and carbon cycling, making grass-fed fats a more sustainable option than many heavily processed industrial oils.

We tested all of these oils early on, but they didn’t give our chips the flavor or quality we wanted — each one created noticeable off-flavors during frying.

They also come with sourcing challenges. High-quality, authentic versions of these oils can be difficult to secure consistently, and many of them must be imported long distances, which increases reliance on fossil fuels.

Using 100% beef tallow allows us to keep sourcing simple, support local agriculture, and maintain the clean, consistent flavor our customers love.

MASA tastes like your favorite restaurant-style tortilla chip, but thicker, crunchier, and with more of that delicious corn flavor.

The only way to really find out is to try for yourself!

As with every other animal, our sense of taste evolved to tell us that nutritious foods taste good.

With the development of industrial technology and chemistry, food engineers were able to create synthetic, processed foods that had the flavor of healthy, delicious food, but without the nutrients to back it up.

Since most foods today are synthetic and engineered to taste good, people often think that delicious foods are bad for them. But if you eliminate processed foods, you'll find that among the foods are left, the best tasting ones are often the healthiest.

“Processed foods” are foods or ingredients that require modern technology to create. Things that can’t be made in a home kitchen and often involve industrial machinery or lab-driven techniques. Examples include artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sugar alcohols like erythritol, and highly refined seed oils.

Because many of these ingredients were developed in just the last 100 years, they’re new to the human diet. Some people prefer to avoid them because they feel these modern, highly altered foods don’t align well with our traditional, whole-food nutritional needs.

Please see our Refund Policy here. 

All MASA Chips are made in-house in artisanal batches, so we do our best to process and ship orders as quickly as possible. The ancients understood that good things are worth the wait… we hope you can too ;)

Orders typically ship within 3 business days. Your order confirmation email will include the most accurate shipping estimate based on our current backlog.

As soon as your order ships, you’ll receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking number.

You can track your order anytime here:

https://masa-chips.gorgias.help/en-US/ssp/login

If you purchased through a third-party app, please use the shipping confirmation emails we send you for your tracking information. Their tracking links may not be accurate.

MASA is available in six flavors: MASA White, MASA Yellow, MASA Lime, MASA Cobanero, MASA Blue, MASA Hatch Green Chili and MASA Churro.

If you need to cancel or modify your order, please reach out as soon as possible. We have a 4 hour cancellation window. If the order has already processed for shipment and has a "label created" or is past the 4 hour cancellation window, we will not be able to cancel it but can assist with skipping your next subscription order if applicable. Please provide the email address tied to your subscription or order for us to assist you more efficiently.

Please note, cancelling a subscription does not cancel orders that have already been confirmed. 

We fill our bags with extra air to protect the chips from breaking during shipping. That “air” is actually nitrogen, which is commonly used in food packaging to keep products fresh. Nitrogen helps prevent spoilage, preserves flavor, and cushions the chips so they arrive intact.

Even though the bag may look roomy, it contains the exact amount of chips listed on the package.

You can find our refund policy here: https://www.masachips.com/policies/refund-policy

If you have not received your order or are unsatisfied with your purchase, please contact us with your order details. We can review your order status or, if needed, create a replacement order. Our goal is to ensure you have a satisfying experience with our products, so let us know how we can assist.

If you encounter any issues with your delivery, such as not receiving it or noticing a discrepancy, please reach out to us. We may provide you with a link to view the delivery picture for verification in case of a missing package or to facilitate the claims process with the carrier. Additionally, if a delivery attempt failed, we can create a replacement order and ensure accurate delivery to the correct address. Your satisfaction with the delivery process is important to us.

Please do not discard your chips, we may need you to send them back to us. 

You can manage your online subscription at any time by logging in below:

https://www.masachips.com/a/account/login

If you need further assistance, you can reach out to [email protected] and tell us your reqest. We are happy to help you update or cancel a subscription. 

Please note, cancelling a subscription account does not automatically cancel already confirmed orders. 

Apologies for any issues with your order. Please send over a picture of what you received, or, in the case of damaged products, photos of the boxes/labels, so we can figure out the root of the issue and assist you further. 

From there, we can log your complaint and arrange for the correct claims process or replacement products to be sent to you.

If a particular flavor didn’t meet your expectations or caused a reaction, please contact us. We can provide a return label so you can send the item back for in-house review. Our customer service team will also send a short questionnaire to help us investigate the issue.

Providing the lot number from your chip bag is especially helpful, as it allows our quality control team to track and address any potential concerns.

Should the seasoning of our chips not meet your taste preference, such as being too salty or spicy, please provide the lot number for our quality control records. We can replace your order with a batch or flavor that better fits your palate.

We appreciate your enthusiasm for our products! We always consider expanding our offerings to meet our customer's wishes, so stay tuned for future developments. 

We have lots of snacks we want to create! 

Our refund policy is available on our website. If you believe there is something wrong with the batch you received, let us know by providing the lot numbers, and we can send a return label for you to send your chips back for examination of the product, as well as arrange a replacement order.

Our policy allows for shipping cost refunds if orders are delayed past their expected delivery, reflecting our commitment to transparency about our handcrafting and processing times.

We are unable to adjust orders once they’re processed, as changes would affect the item's price and our order fulfillment system. 

Unfortunately, at this time we do not ship internationally. We are currently working to expand our reach and hope to serve more locations in the future. Stay tuned for updates on international shipping options!

Promo codes cannot be stacked with subscription orders, as these are already offered at a discounted rate. To utilize a promo code, make sure you select 'one time purchase' instead of the 'subscribe and save' option before adding items to your cart. If you continue to experience issues with a promo code, please ensure it is valid and contact us for assistance.

Please note, PROMO codes are one time use only. 

Your shipping cost is initially calculated with your original purchase. If you add items via a post-purchase upsell, the system may not automatically adjust the shipping cost. We honor the free shipping offers and will refund you for any shipping fees that should not have been applied.

Orders must be $99 to ship for free!

If the shipping address you provided for your order is incorrect, please contact us immediately. We have a small window where we can update your shipping address so it accurately reflects your instructions. If your order already has a "label created" we will not be able to update your shipping address. 

Please monitor your shipping confirmation email to ensure the updated address is correctly mentioned.

Ground shipping is free on orders $99+ to the lower 48 states--this applies to both one-time and subscription orders.

Orders will typically ship within approximately 3 business days.

Yes! If you’re a first-time MASA Chips customer, you can enjoy 20% off your order with the promo code MASA20 — one-time use only.

You may also find one time PROMO offers on social media platforms. 

1. Visit our website.
2. Select your desired Pack Size.
3. Opt for "Subscribe and Save" instead of a "one-time purchase".
4. Customize your delivery frequency (every 4, 6, or 8 weeks).
5. Proceed to checkout + payment and enjoy the perks of subscribing!

You can tell if you have a subscription in a few different ways:

• Your order confirmation email will state under your product (every X weeks)
• You will also receive a welcome email about your subscription (you may want to check your spam)
• You can login here: https://www.masachips.com/a/account/login
• You can reach out to us via [email protected] at any time and we can help you 

Please see our subscription & cancellation policy here:

https://www.masachips.com/policies/subscription-policy