THE owner of a Suffolk fish and chip shop claims his new offering could herald the end of vinegar-sodden chips.

Steve and Michelle Boggis run the Ye Olde Fish and Chip Shoppe in Cross Street, Sudbury.

And sitting on the counter alongside the salt shaker and the vinegar bottle is a brand new product – a powered version combining the two traditional condiments.

Mr Boggis believes he could be the first fish and chip shop owner in the country to offer Malt Salt, a vinegar-flavoured salt created by US food firm J&D, well known in America for its bacon salt product.

The chip shop owner said the innovation could mean the end of chips turning soggy after a sprinkling with vinegar.

Mr Boggis said: “I heard about it and decided to order it in from the States. As far as I know we are the only people who have got it.

“It tastes just like the real thing and it could mark the end of soggy fish and chips.”

Mr Boggis said he would still be offering the traditional salt and vinegar option but hoped his customers might try the powdered alternative.

If it becomes popular, he is also considering selling the packaged product directly to his customers to sprinkle at home.

A spokesman for J&D said the product had been developed after a debate about fish and chips and how a shot of malt vinegar turned chips “as cold and soggy as a Seattle winter”.

The company says Malt Salt is the “the world’s first malt vinegar flavored seasoning salt” and that the product was “all natural and made with real malt vinegar”.