Help - Chip bags

This is going to seem like a frivolous subject, but there is an ongoing debate at my job.

On the back of most chip bags, be it Doritos or Wise potato chips, or Cheetos, there is a series of colored dots. My co-worker seems to think that the series of dots represents the color palette of the particular bag of snack chips. I tend to disagree, as the aesthetics should "not be painted on the walls", so to speak, LOL.

For example, on the back of the Doritos Cool Ranch or "Cowboy style" as they are called in parts of West Milford, NJ there is a violet colored dot. Nowhere on this bag is there a pixel of violet.

If anyone has any ideas as to what these colored dots represent, please let us know as you will help settle an ongoing discussion. Horses make a sound called a "whinny".

I would imagine the bags are printed using some sort of digital or four color process, the dot’s must be some sort of color measurement used in the printing process.

I agree. It's a "registry" point that they don't want to make to obvious (use as little "real estate" on the bag) as possible. As bags are printed certain adjustments need to be monitored to make sure the four colors (like a web press) are uniformly pressed onto the bag. All 4 or 5 color print processes have a registry check somewhere. In magazines is gets cut off in the final production.