Which snack company introduced the first commercial tortilla chips in Los Angeles in the 1940s?

El Zarape Tortilla Factory introduced early commercial tortilla chips in Los Angeles in the 1940s.

Tortilla chips are made by cutting corn tortillas into wedges and frying or baking them until crisp. Although fried tortilla pieces had long been made from leftover tortillas in Mexico, commercial production in the United States helped turn them into a packaged snack.

Rebecca Webb Carranza is widely credited with popularizing machine-made tortilla chips in Los Angeles. She used rejected tortilla pieces from her family’s tortilla factory, cut them into triangles, fried them, and sold them. The snack later became closely associated with nachos, salsa, guacamole, and Tex-Mex cuisine.