Cheez-It Cheese and Chilli Thin and Crispy Baked Snacks, 150g

Cheez-It are baked cheese crackers, and Snap'd is the thin, crispy range. Cheese and Chilli puts a gentle chilli warmth on a cheesy, snappy baked cracker. This is the 150g sharing bag. The full product name on the pack is thin and crispy baked snacks with cheese and cheese and chilli seasoning, and the listing names Kellogg Marketing and Sales Company (UK) Limited, of Salford, as the UK distributor.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the snacks are made from wheat flour, sunflower oil, starch, dehydrated potatoes, a cheese and chilli seasoning, cheese (milk, 4.2%), oat fibre, sugar, salt, raising agents (ammonium carbonates), acids (citric and lactic), emulsifiers (lecithins) and colours (curcumin, annatto norbixin and paprika extract).

The seasoning

The seasoning lists lactose (milk), whey powder (milk), cheese powder (milk, 0.6%), salt, onion powder, buttermilk powder (milk), yeast extract, flavourings, chilli, lactic and citric acid, calcium lactate, sunflower oil, paprika extract, oregano and maltodextrin.

Real cheese in the dough

Cheese makes up 4.2% of the snack, baked into the dough itself, with more cheese powder, whey and buttermilk in the seasoning. That is where the cheesy flavour comes from.

Baked, thin and crispy

The pack describes the snacks as thin and crispy and baked. Wheat flour, starch and dehydrated potato make a light dough, and ammonium carbonates, a traditional baking raising agent, help it puff and crisp.

The chilli

Chilli sits in the seasoning with oregano, onion and paprika, giving a gentle warmth behind the cheese rather than a hot snack.

The colours

The orange colour comes from curcumin, the yellow of turmeric, annatto and paprika extract.

Oat fibre

Oat fibre adds fibre and a little body to the dough. Oats are one of the cereals containing gluten under UK allergen rules, so it is highlighted with the wheat.

Lecithins

Lecithins are emulsifiers that help the dough mix evenly. The list does not name their source, and the allergy advice says the snacks may contain soya.

Lactose and whey

Lactose and whey powder give the seasoning a milky sweetness and body behind the cheese.

Snap'd

Snap'd is the name of the thin, crispy range, and the crackers break with a clean snap.

Yeast extract

Yeast extract gives savoury depth. It is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether; there is no added MSG on the list.

Numbers per serving

The label gives 150 kcal (629 kJ), 7.5g of fat, 1g of saturates, 18g of carbohydrate, 1g of sugars, 1.3g of fibre, 2.1g of protein and 0.45g of salt for each 30g serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 11% of the fat and 8% of the salt. Per 100g it is 501 kcal (2098 kJ), 25g of fat, 3.3g of saturates, 60g of carbohydrate, 3.4g of sugars, 4.2g of fibre, 7g of protein and 1.5g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 25g is red. Saturates at 3.3g are amber. Sugars at 3.4g are green. Salt at 1.5g is amber, right on the line.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, in the wheat flour, oats, in the oat fibre, and milk, in the cheese, lactose, whey, cheese powder and buttermilk. The allergy advice says the snacks may contain mustard and soya. The listing says they are vegetarian certified and halal certified; they are not vegan, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten or milk. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Halal and vegetarian

The listing says Cheez-It are vegetarian certified and halal certified.

About five servings

At 150g, the bag holds about five of the label's 30g servings. Tip a serving into a bowl rather than eating from the bag.

The pack

The red and purple bag carries the white Cheez-It name, the orange Snap'd word, a purple band reading cheese and chilli, and a block of cheese, a red chilli and a pile of crackers beside the 150g weight.

Who it suits

A thin, cheesy baked snack with a little chilli suits anyone who likes a cracker style crunch, and the halal statement suits a halal table. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten or milk.

Serving the bag

Serve it with a cheeseboard, a tomato soup or a cold beer, or beside a dip of soured cream and chives.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crackers make a cheesy, crunchy crumb for the top of a macaroni cheese or a tomato gratin.

Storage and packaging

Keep the bag cool and dry and clip it shut between servings. The published recycling guidance says the whole packaging can be recycled with carrier bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling.

Other Cheez-It

In the same 150g Snap'd bag we stock Cheez-It Double Cheese and Cheese and Smokey Bacon.

Other 150g packs of Cheez-It Snap'd we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.