McCoy's Flame Grilled Steak Crisps, 6 x 25g

The McCoy's Flame Grilled Steak multipack puts the brand's meaty flavour into six 25g bags, 150g of thick ridge cut crisps in total, each sealed on its own. The full product name on the pack is Flame Grilled Steak Flavour Potato Crisps.

What is on the label

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower oil and a flame grilled steak flavour seasoning. The seasoning lists lactose (milk), salt, dried onion, dried yeast extract, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate and disodium guanylate), potassium chloride, flavouring (containing milk), maltodextrin, dried skimmed milk, citric acid and paprika extract for colour.

Nothing on that list is meat. The steak impression is built from savour, sweetness and aroma. Yeast extract and monosodium glutamate provide glutamate, the compound that gives cooked meat and gravy their depth. Disodium guanylate strengthens it further. Dried onion supplies a browned sweetness, and the flavouring carries the grilled aroma. Maltodextrin, a mild starch powder, helps the seasoning spread evenly.

Why the pairing of MSG and guanylate matters

Food scientists have known for a long time that glutamate and certain other compounds, called ribonucleotides, strengthen each other: a small amount of guanylate added to glutamate gives a much stronger savoury taste than either alone. Guanylate occurs naturally in foods such as dried mushrooms. This is why the two so often appear together on crisp and stock cube labels, and why a small amount of seasoning can taste so rich.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 131 kcal (547 kJ), 7.8g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 13g of carbohydrate, 0.6g of sugars, 1g of fibre, 1.7g of protein and 0.38g of salt for each 25g bag. That is about 7% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake and 6% of the salt. Per 100g it is 524 kcal, 31g of fat, 2.5g of saturates, 2.3g of sugars and 1.5g of salt. On the UK front of pack scale fat is high, saturates medium, sugars low, and salt medium at the top of the band.

The colours on the front

Per 100g, the front of pack scale puts fat in red at 31g, saturates in amber at 2.5g, sugars in green at 2.3g and salt in amber at 1.5g, right on the boundary with red. In a 25g bag that salt comes to 0.38g, so the multipack format keeps each portion in check.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight milk, in the lactose, the flavouring and the dried skimmed milk. The allergy advice says the crisps may contain cereals containing gluten, mustard and soya. The pack 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 meat flavour for a meat free lunchbox

For a family that includes a vegetarian, this is a useful bag: it tastes of grilled beef, and the pack says it is suitable for vegetarians. The one thing to check is milk, which is in the seasoning, so it is not for anyone avoiding dairy or following a vegan diet.

How the crisps are made

Potatoes are washed and cut with a corrugated blade into thick ridged slices, rinsed, and fried in sunflower oil until the water has cooked out. The seasoning is dusted on while they are warm, where the ridges catch it, and the pack says the bags are packaged in a protective atmosphere.

Six bags for the week

Six 25g bags cover a working week of lunches with one to spare. The thick ridge cut slice survives a lunchbox well, and the savoury flavour suits a cheese sandwich, a ham roll or a flask of tomato soup. A crushed bag also makes a good savoury crust: press the crumbs onto a cheese on toast before it goes under the grill, or scatter them over a cottage pie.

The protective atmosphere

The pack says the bags are packaged in a protective atmosphere. That means the air inside each bag is replaced with a gas mix before sealing, which keeps oxygen away from the sunflower oil. Oxygen is what makes fried food taste stale over time, so a sealed bag keeps its flavour until it is opened.

Other sizes and flavours

The same flavour comes in a 45g bag and a 140g sharing bag. In the same six bag format we stock McCoy's Cheddar and Onion, Salt and Malt Vinegar and Thai Sweet Chicken, and the limited edition Hot Kick Ketchup and Yellow Mustard. For comparison within the range, McCoy's Cheddar and Onion carries 0.24g of salt per bag, and McCoy's Salt and Malt Vinegar 0.53g.

The packets and storage

The published listing says the whole packaging can be recycled with bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling. The pack advises storing it in a cool, dry place; keep the bags in the outer pack until needed and finish each bag once it is opened.

Sizes of McCoy's Flame Grilled Steak Crisps we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

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