Hula Hoops BBQ Beef Potato Rings, 6 x 24g

BBQ Beef is the meaty Hula Hoop, and there is no beef in it. This multipack holds six 24g bags of the potato rings, 144g in total. The full product name on the pack is barbecue beef flavour potato rings.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the rings are made from potato (potato starch and dried potato), sunflower oil, rice flour, a barbecue beef flavour (salt, rice flour, dried yeast extract, sweet whey powder from milk, dried onion, potassium chloride, sugar, natural flavouring, dried tomato and paprika extract for colour), maize flour, salt and a natural flavouring (containing potassium chloride, dried yeast extract, salt, maltodextrin and dried onion).

Beef flavour without beef

The meaty taste comes from dried yeast extract, which appears twice, and natural flavouring. Yeast extract is rich in the glutamates behind the savour of gravy and stock. Dried onion and dried tomato give the barbecue side, a little sugar rounds it out, and sweet whey powder, from milk, softens the seasoning.

Tomato and onion

Dried tomato and dried onion give the barbecue side of the flavour, the sweet, slightly tangy base of a barbecue sauce, while paprika extract adds colour.

Two flavourings

The seasoning comes in two parts: the barbecue beef flavour itself, and a separate natural flavouring of potassium chloride, yeast extract, salt, maltodextrin and dried onion, which deepens the savoury taste.

Potassium chloride

Potassium chloride appears in both the flavour and the natural flavouring. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium, so it adds saltiness without adding to that figure. Even so, the label gives 2.2g of salt per 100g.

The ring

Hula Hoops are made from a dough of potato starch and dried potato, with rice and maize flour, and the rings are light, even and crunchy rather than brittle like a sliced crisp. The ring shape fits neatly on a fingertip.

Rice and maize flour

Rice flour and maize flour sit beside the potato in the dough, and rice flour carries the seasoning too. They help give the rings their light, even texture.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 120 kcal (500 kJ), 6g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 15g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 0.6g of fibre, 0.9g of protein and 0.53g of salt for each 24g bag. That is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 9% of the fat and 9% of the salt. Per 100g it is 498 kcal (2083 kJ), 25g of fat, 2.3g of saturates, 64g of carbohydrate, 1g of sugars, 2.6g of fibre, 3.6g of protein and 2.2g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 25g is red and salt at 2.2g is red too, well above the 1.5g line. Saturates at 2.3g are amber and sugars at 1g are green.

Salt across the range

At 2.2g of salt per 100g, BBQ Beef is the saltiest of the Hula Hoops six bag packs we stock; Hula Hoops Original has 1.4g and Smoky Bacon 1.5g. The 24g bag keeps the portion small.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight milk, in the sweet whey powder. The allergy advice says the rings may contain cereals containing gluten; there is no gluten free claim. The pack says they are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

What the pack leaves out

The pack says there are no artificial flavours or colours and no MSG; the colour is paprika extract. Yeast extract is naturally rich in glutamates, which is worth knowing for anyone who avoids glutamates altogether.

Who it suits

A meaty flavour with no meat on the list suits vegetarians who miss a beef crisp, as long as they eat milk, and the 24g bag keeps the portion small.

Six bags for the week

Six bags cover a working or school week with one to spare. A savoury, meaty bag suits a cheese sandwich or a bowl of soup.

Serving ideas

BBQ beef rings suit a party bowl, a picnic or a barbecue, and they sit well beside a cheese and pickle sandwich or a burger.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the rings make a savoury barbecue crumb for the top of a cottage pie or a bean casserole.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place. 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 Hula Hoops

In the same six bag format we stock Hula Hoops Original, Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar and Smoky Bacon. BBQ beef also appears in the twelve bag Hula Hoops Variety box, with three bags.

Other 6 x 24g packs of Hula Hoops we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.