Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Wednesday, 03 September 2014.
Tagged: Product Snapshot, review, snacks
Can’t say “No” to a handful of potato crisps? Love the crunch of corn chips? Then you may well like the healthier option of Popcorners.
Dubbed as “the new shape of popcorn” and “popped corn chips”, these triangle-shaped, crunchy chips are a lower-fat alternative to the humble potato chip but they’re not without their drawbacks. Here’s how I found them in a taste-test …
Potato crisps and corn chips have become staples in our modern world. Forget bread. You can buy bags of these salty snacks at every petrol station, convenience store and vending machine.
These snacks are a nutritional nightmare with their industrial fat, high salt content and colours/flavours - if you select a bag with Nacho Cheese, BBQ Chicken or Salt and Vinegar flavours.
Only three:
Yellow corn 90%, sunflower oil, sea salt |
Pack: 142 g foil pack
Other flavours: Butter, Cheesy Jalapeno, White Cheddar, Caramel
Per 100 g |
Fat % | Sat fat % | kilojoules | Sodium |
Popcorners, Sea Salt | 8 | <1 | 1590 | 710 |
Potato crisps, plain salted | 35 | 15 | 2220 | 640 |
Corn chips, salted | 28 | 10.6 | 2100 | 472 |
Source: Popcporners pack plus Calorie King
I only taste-tested the plain salted variety as I really hate any flavoured kinds like Nacho Cheese or BBQ. However if you opt for one of Popcorners' other flavours such as White Cheddar or Cheesy Jalapeno it’s a different story. Even though they may have ‘natural flavours’ and ‘natural colours’, they remain ultra-processed foods with the same nutrition problems of being kilojoule-dense, over-processed and too easy to dip into. And making you thirsty so you drink more!
Take a look at their Ingredient List before you buy. Yes there are no flavour enhancers or food acids or thickeners. But you’ll see lots of things that aren’t wholesome or ‘real food’.
CHEESY JALAPEÑO variant, for example, has 26 ingredients (counting each herb and flavour):
Enriched Yellow Corn (Yellow Corn, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Canola Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Jalapeno Peppers, Natural Cheddar Cheese Flavour (Whey, Reduced Lactose Whey, Maltodextrin, Cheddar and Blue Cheese [Cultured milk, salt and enzymes], Canola Oil, Salt, Disodium Phosphate, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid), Jalapeno Spice (Parsley Flakes, Dextrose, Jalapeno Pepper Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Spices and Natural Flavours). |
These are never going to make the nutritionist’s Yes-list with their processed feel, salt, carbs and lack of much nutritionally. Still they’re a better, less fattening, choice than regular crisps and chips so get my vote . You’ll like them for their crunch, saltiness and sociability. But let’s face it - they’re still like potato chips!
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