KP Cheese Footballs, 142g

KP Cheese Footballs are small, round wheat wafers shaped like footballs, with a soft cheesy centre. This is the 142g tub with a lid, which the pack marks as perfect for sharing and the listing says holds four to five servings. The full product name on the pack is light and crispy wafers with a soft cheesy centre, and the pack gives a freepost address for KP Snacks.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the footballs are made from wheat flour, vegetable oils (palm kernel and palm), dried whey (milk), dried processed cheese (milk, 12%), wheat starch, dextrose, salt, natural flavouring (containing milk), potassium chloride, an emulsifier (soya lecithins), caramel sugar syrup, carotenes for colour, a raising agent (sodium carbonates) and an antioxidant (tocopherol rich extract).

Wafer footballs

Each football is a hollow, light wheat wafer, patterned like a football and crisp on the outside, with a soft, cheesy filling. They break with a crunch and then melt.

The cheese

Dried processed cheese makes up 12% of the footballs, with dried whey and a natural flavouring, all from milk, for a mild, creamy cheese taste.

Palm kernel oil

The fat comes from palm kernel oil and palm oil, and palm kernel oil is mostly saturated fat. That is why saturates are 27g per 100g and 8.1g in a 30g serving, red on the front of pack scale and the most of anything we stock.

The sweet side

Dextrose and caramel sugar syrup sit in the recipe, with the lactose in the whey, and the label gives 14g of sugars per 100g, amber on the front of pack scale. The footballs taste gently sweet as well as cheesy.

Carotenes

Carotenes, the orange pigments found in carrots, give the footballs their golden colour.

Soya lecithins

Soya lecithins are an emulsifier that helps the filling and dough mix evenly, and they are why soya is highlighted.

Potassium chloride

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

Numbers per serving

The label gives 167 kcal (695 kJ), 11g of fat, 8.1g of saturates, 13g of carbohydrate, 4.2g of sugars, 0.5g of fibre, 3.6g of protein and 0.36g of salt for a 30g serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 16% of the fat, 41% of the saturates and 6% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 556 kcal (2317 kJ), 37g of fat, 27g of saturates, 44g of carbohydrate, 14g of sugars, 1.5g of fibre, 12g of protein and 1.2g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 37g is red. Saturates at 27g are red. Sugars at 14g are amber. Salt at 1.2g is amber.

Protein

The label gives 12g of protein per 100g and 3.6g in a serving, with the cheese and whey adding to the wheat.

Wheat flour and starch

Wheat flour and wheat starch make the wafer shell, and sodium carbonates, a raising agent, help it puff.

Whey

Dried whey comes before the cheese on the list, a milky base for the filling.

Caramel sugar syrup

Caramel sugar syrup adds colour and a light toasted sweetness to the wafer.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, in the flour and wheat starch, milk, in the whey, cheese and flavouring, and soya, in the lecithins. The allergy advice says the footballs may contain nuts, so they do not suit anyone who must avoid them. The listing makes no vegetarian or vegan statement. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Four to five servings

The listing says the tub holds four to five servings of 30g. Tip a serving into a bowl rather than eating from the tub.

Once opened

The listing says to close the bag once opened and eat the footballs within 5 days. The best before date is on the lid.

The tub

The listing says the product may settle in transit, and that the film, the lid and the tube can all be recycled, the film with carrier bags at large supermarkets. The listing notes FSC Mix packaging, from responsible forestry.

The pack

The tub in our photograph is a festive edition: orange with a red lid, the KP logo, the name Cheese Footballs, a robin in a hat with a football, a perfect for sharing flash and a front of pack nutrition strip. Seasonal designs change, so the tub you receive may look different.

Who it suits

A light, cheesy wafer suits parties and anyone who likes a soft, melting cheese snack. It is very rich in saturates, so a small bowl goes a long way, and it is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten, milk, soya or nuts.

At a party

Put a bowl out at a Christmas party or a match day, beside crisps and nuts, and keep the lid on the tub between refills.

A sharing tub

The tub stands on the table with the lid off at a party, and the lid goes back on between refills.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the footballs make a cheesy crumb for the top of a cauliflower cheese.

Distributor

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

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