Doritos Tangy Cheese Tortilla Chips, 44g

Tangy Cheese is the orange Doritos: corn tortilla chips with a cheese seasoning that is sharp as well as savoury. This is the 44g grab bag, one bag and one serving, sized for a lunch or a journey rather than a table. The full product name on the pack is Tangy Cheese Flavour Corn Chips.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the chips are made from corn (maize), rapeseed oil, a Tangy Cheese flavour seasoning and antioxidants: rosemary extract, ascorbic acid, a tocopherol rich extract and citric acid. The seasoning lists whey powder (from milk), flavouring (containing milk), salt, buttermilk powder, cheese powder (from milk), tomato, onion and garlic powders, potassium chloride, sugar, colours, lactic and citric acid, milk protein, spices, skimmed milk powder and a flavour enhancer.

Cheese from five dairy powders

The cheese in the name comes from a stack of dairy: whey powder, buttermilk powder, cheese powder, milk protein and skimmed milk powder, with a flavouring that also contains milk. Whey and buttermilk bring a soft, milky sourness, and the cheese powder gives the savoury, aged note.

Where the tang comes from

Lactic acid is the acid that forms as milk sours into cheese and yoghurt, and citric acid adds a brighter edge on top. Together with the buttermilk they give the seasoning its tang, so the flavour reads as a sharp cheese rather than a mild, creamy one.

Tomato, onion and garlic

Tomato powder adds a fruity depth under the cheese, as a little tomato does in a cheese sauce, and onion and garlic powders give it a savoury base. Spices finish the blend.

The orange colour

The colours are paprika extract, annatto bixin and plain caramel. Paprika extract and annatto, from the seeds of the achiote tree, give the familiar orange, and plain caramel deepens it. The listing says there are no artificial colours or flavours.

No MSG listed

Tangy Cheese lists no monosodium glutamate, unlike Cool Original and Chilli Heatwave. It uses one flavour enhancer, disodium 5'-ribonucleotide, which works with the glutamates that occur naturally in cheese and whey to strengthen the savoury taste.

Potassium chloride

Potassium chloride sits in the seasoning beside the salt. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium.

Corn and rapeseed oil

Corn (maize) is the first ingredient, cooked into triangles in rapeseed oil, the only oil on the list. The pack calls them corn chips; in shops they sit with the tortilla chips.

The antioxidants

Rosemary extract, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), a tocopherol rich extract (vitamin E) and citric acid protect the oil in the chips from turning stale.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 211 kcal (884 kJ), 9.7g of fat, 1g of saturates, 27g of carbohydrate, 1.6g of sugars, 2.4g of fibre, 3g of protein and 0.39g of salt for the 44g bag. That is about 11% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 14% of the fat and 5% of the saturates.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 480 kcal (2009 kJ), 22g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 61g of carbohydrate, 3.7g of sugars, 5.5g of fibre, 6.8g of protein and 0.89g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 22g is red, as it is for fried tortilla chips generally. Saturates at 2.2g are amber, sugars at 3.7g are green and salt at 0.89g is amber.

Salt

At 0.89g of salt per 100g, Tangy Cheese is one of the less salty Doritos we stock: only Sizzling Beef Taco, at 0.8g, and BBQ Sweet Tang, at 0.85g, carry less. Cool Original and Chilli Heatwave are at 1.1g.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight milk, in the whey, buttermilk, cheese, milk protein and skimmed milk powders and the flavouring. The allergy advice says the chips may contain soya, wheat and other cereals containing gluten. The listing says they are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and no gluten free claim is made. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

A grab bag

The front of the bag reads grab bag, and at 44g it holds about half as much again as a 30g multipack bag. It is one serving by the pack, so the numbers above are for the whole bag.

Why a corn chip

Corn gives a tortilla chip its sweet, toasted flavour and a denser, glassier crunch than a thin potato crisp. The triangle is sturdy enough to scoop, so the bag works with a pot of salsa or soured cream as well as on its own.

Packed in a protective atmosphere

The listing says the chips are packaged in a protective atmosphere, which keeps oxygen away from the oil until the bag is opened.

Who it suits

Tangy Cheese suits anyone who wants a cheesy snack with no chilli heat and no MSG in the list. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding milk.

With a dip

A cool salsa balances the cheese, and a soured cream and chive dip doubles the dairy tang. A spoonful of guacamole works too.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the chips make a cheesy crumb for the top of a pasta bake or a macaroni cheese, or a coating for chicken strips before baking.

Other sizes

We stock the same Tangy Cheese chips in a 180g sharing bag and in a multipack of five 30g bags, and four Tangy Cheese bags go into the Doritos Variety box. Cool Original and Chilli Heatwave come in the same 44g grab bag.

Storage

The listing advises a cool, dry place. Finish the bag once it is open.

Sizes of Doritos Tangy Cheese Tortilla Chips 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.