Popchips Sea Salt and Vinegar Crisps, 85g

Popchips are popped rather than fried: small pieces of a potato dough are heated under pressure until they puff up into light, crisp chips. This is the sea salt and vinegar flavour in the 85g sharing bag, which the label suggests serves three to four. The full product name on the pack is sea salt and vinegar flavour popped potato snacks, and the pack gives a freepost address for KP Snacks.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the chips are made from dried potato, rice flour, sunflower oil, potato starch, a sea salt and vinegar flavour (maltodextrin, rice flour, natural flavourings, sugar, citric acid, potassium chloride, salt, sea salt, dried yeast extract, and extracts of rosemary as an antioxidant), and salt.

Where the vinegar comes from

No vinegar is named on the list. The sharpness comes from citric acid, the acid of lemons, and the vinegar character from the natural flavourings. Maltodextrin and rice flour carry the powder evenly over each chip, and a little sugar keeps the acid from tasting harsh.

How a popped chip is made

The dough of dried potato, rice flour and potato starch is heated under pressure in small pieces, which pop into light, airy chips. The pack sums it up as popped, not fried.

The texture

Popped chips have a light, airy crunch that dissolves quickly, gentler than a thick fried crisp, with a texture somewhere between a crisp and a rice cake. The open, uneven surface holds the sharp seasoning well.

Salt, sea salt and potassium chloride

The seasoning uses ordinary salt, sea salt and potassium chloride. Potassium chloride tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium. The label gives 0.9g of salt per 100g and 0.21g for a 23g serving.

Rice flour

Rice flour appears twice, in the chip and in the seasoning. It contains no gluten, and with dried potato and potato starch in place of wheat, the pack can carry a gluten free claim.

Yeast extract

A little dried yeast extract gives the seasoning a savoury base under the sharpness. It is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

Numbers per serving

The label gives 99 kcal (417 kJ), 3g of fat, 0.4g of saturates, 16g of carbohydrate, 0.5g of sugars, 1g of fibre, 1.3g of protein and 0.21g of salt for each 23g serving. That is about 5% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 4% of the fat and 4% of the salt. Per 100g it is 431 kcal (1812 kJ), 13g of fat, 1.6g of saturates, 69g of carbohydrate, 1.7g of sugars, 4.2g of fibre, 5.5g of protein and 0.9g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 13g is amber rather than the red of a fried crisp, and saturates at 1.6g are amber, just over the 1.5g line. Sugars at 1.7g are green. Salt at 0.9g is amber.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients, and the listing gives no may contain advice. The pack says the chips are suitable for vegans and vegetarians and carries a gluten free claim. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

A sharp chip for several diets

Many salt and vinegar crisps get their tang from malt vinegar, which is made from barley. This one uses citric acid and natural flavourings instead, and with dried potato, rice flour and potato starch in place of wheat, the pack can carry a gluten free claim.

Antioxidant

Extracts of rosemary protect the oil in the seasoning from going stale; at the small amount used, they are not there for flavour.

Three to four servings

At 85g, the bag suggests three to four servings of 23g. Tip a serving into a bowl rather than eating from the bag, and keep the rest in an airtight container.

Who it suits

A light, sharp chip suits anyone who likes salt and vinegar but wants a lighter snack than a fried crisp, and the gluten free claim makes it an easy choice for a coeliac guest.

Serving the bag

Salt and vinegar chips go with anything rich or creamy: a cheese board, a fish finger sandwich, a houmous or a soured cream dip. They also suit a picnic.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the chips make a sharp, gluten free crumb for fish goujons or a topping for mushy peas.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place and, once opened, an airtight container. 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 Popchips packs

In the same 85g bag we stock Popchips Sea Salt, Barbeque and Sour Cream and Onion, and there are five bag packs of Popchips Barbeque, Chargrilled Steak and Sour Cream and Onion.

Other 85g packs of Popchips 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.