Hula Hoops Big Hoops BBQ Beef Potato Rings, 45g

Big Hoops are the bigger version of Hula Hoops, the potato rings from KP Snacks, and Barbecue Beef is the meaty, savoury one. The pack promises a bigger hoop and a bold flavour. This is the 45g grab bag, which the listing says is one serving. The full product name on the pack is barbecue beef flavour potato rings, and the pack gives a freepost address for KP Snacks.

The ingredients

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

Beef without beef

There is no beef on the list. The beefy, barbecue taste comes from dried yeast extract, which appears twice, the natural flavourings, onion and tomato, and the pack says the rings are suitable for vegetarians.

Potato rings

Hula Hoops are made from dried potato and potato starch, formed into a dough and shaped into hollow rings. Big Hoops are larger rings than standard Hula Hoops, which the pack sums up as bigger hoop, bold flavour.

Barbecue

Dried tomato, sugar and paprika give the sweet, smoky barbecue side, and onion and yeast extract the savoury, beefy side. It is a gentle barbecue flavour, with no chilli on the list.

Sweet whey

Sweet whey powder, from milk, softens the seasoning and carries the flavour. It is the reason milk is highlighted.

No MSG

The pack says no MSG, and none is on the list. Dried yeast extract, which appears twice, is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

Potassium chloride and the salt figure

Potassium chloride appears twice, in the flavour and in the natural flavouring. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium. The label gives 1.7g of salt per 100g and 0.77g for the bag.

Rice flour

Rice flour leads the flavour and carries it, so the seasoning spreads evenly around each ring.

Numbers for the bag

The pack gives 228 kcal (953 kJ), 12g of fat, 1.1g of saturates, 28g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 1.3g of fibre, 1.6g of protein and 0.77g of salt for the 45g bag. That is about 11% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 17% of the fat and 13% of the salt. Per 100g it is 506 kcal (2117 kJ), 27g of fat, 2.5g of saturates, 62g of carbohydrate, 1g of sugars, 2.9g of fibre, 3.6g of protein and 1.7g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 27g is red. Saturates at 2.5g are amber. Sugars at 1g are green. Salt at 1.7g is red.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight milk, in the sweet whey powder. The allergy advice says the rings may contain cereals containing gluten. The pack says they are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and there is no gluten free claim. 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 colours or flavours. The colour is paprika extract.

Sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is the only oil on the list, and the label gives 2.5g of saturates per 100g.

A grab bag

At 45g, the grab bag is a substantial snack for one, 228 kcal. It suits a journey, a desk lunch or an afternoon at the match.

The pack

The brown bag carries a yellow grab bag band, the yellow Hula Hoops badge under the line bigger hoop bold flavour, the words big hoops and iconic barbecue beef in a box, and five big rings around them.

The Hula Hoops range

Standard Hula Hoops come in six bag multipacks of Original, Barbecue Beef, Salt and Vinegar, Cheese and Onion and Smoky Bacon, and in variety packs; Big Hoops are the larger rings in a grab bag.

Distributor

As well as the freepost address for KP Snacks, the listing names Tayto Snacks, of Ashbourne in County Meath, Ireland, as a distributor.

One serving

The listing counts the 45g bag as one serving, so the figures for the bag are the figures for the serving.

Carbohydrate, fibre and protein

The label gives 62g of carbohydrate per 100g, and with sugars at 1g the rest is starch, from the potato and the rice flour. Fibre is 2.9g and protein 3.6g per 100g.

Two lots of flavouring

The list has a barbecue beef flavour and then a second natural flavouring, which also carries yeast extract, onion and potassium chloride, so the savoury notes go on twice.

Who it suits

A savoury, beefy ring with no beef suits vegetarians who miss a meat flavour and anyone who likes a big, crunchy snack. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding milk.

Serving ideas

A grab bag goes with a cheese sandwich, a pie at the football or a cold drink.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the rings make a savoury, beefy crumb for the top of a cottage pie.

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 Big Hoops

In the same 45g grab bag we stock Hula Hoops Big Hoops Salted and Salt and Vinegar.

Other 45g packs of Big 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.