It is considered to be the hallmark of a crisp worth eating, but also a reason to avoid consuming them while in polite company.

Doritos is taking the crunch out of their crisps by launching a new "lady-friendly" version of the triangular corn snacks which are quieter to eat and less messy.

Indra Nooyi, global chief executive at PepsiCo, which owns Doritos, has claimed that unlike men, women do not like to crunch loudly or lick their fingers when eating crisps in front of other people.

"Although women would love to crunch crisps loudly, lick their fingers and pour crumbs from the bag into their mouth afterwards, they prefer not to do this in public", she said.