Seabrook Crinkle Cut Prawn Cocktail Crisps, 6 x 25g

Prawn cocktail on a crinkle cut: this multipack holds six 25g bags of Seabrook Crinkle Cut Prawn Cocktail, 150g in total. Like every prawn cocktail crisp, it takes its flavour from the sauce, not the seafood.

The ingredients

According to the published listing for this barcode, the crisps are made from potatoes, vegetable oils (sunflower and rapeseed, in varying proportions), sugar, an acidity regulator (sodium diacetate), icing sugar, rice flour, sea salt, yeast extract, onion powder, salt, paprika extract for colour, citric acid and flavouring.

Where the flavour comes from

The flavour copies the sauce of the prawn cocktail starter: prawns dressed in Marie Rose sauce, a mix of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, often sharpened with lemon. The crisp keeps the sweet and tangy side of that sauce, which is why sugar and acids lead the seasoning rather than anything from the sea.

Sweet first

Two sugars lead the seasoning: sugar, and icing sugar, which is simply sugar ground to a fine powder that clings evenly to the ridges. That sweetness is the ketchup side of a prawn cocktail sauce. Sodium diacetate, a salt of the acid in vinegar, gives a soft vinegar tang, and citric acid a brighter one. Yeast extract and onion supply a savoury base, and paprika extract gives the colour.

No seafood

No seafood of any kind is listed. The flavouring carries the seafood note, as it does in most prawn cocktail crisps.

What the published listing does and does not say

The listing for this barcode gives energy in kilojoules only, with no kilocalorie figure, and carries no diet statements and no allergy advice beyond the ingredients. Other Seabrook crinkle cut packs we stock carry the Crossed Grain symbol and Vegetarian Society approval, and this pack may well do the same, but we will not state it without seeing it. Read the pack for its diet statements.

Sugar in a savoury crisp

Sugar leads the seasoning, yet the label gives only 0.8g of sugars in a 25g bag, because the seasoning is a small part of each crisp. Here it balances the acids, as it does in a ketchup or a sweet and sour sauce.

Kilojoules and kilocalories

The published listing gives energy in kilojoules only, 525 kJ a bag. Kilojoules and kilocalories measure the same thing, and a kilocalorie is a little over four kilojoules. The pack itself will show both figures.

Numbers for one bag

The label gives 525 kJ, 7.2g of fat, 0.6g of saturates, 13.3g of carbohydrate, 0.8g of sugars, 1.5g of protein and 0.4g of salt for each 25g bag. Per 100g it is 2100 kJ, 28.7g of fat, 2.5g of saturates, 53.3g of carbohydrate, 3.1g of sugars, 5.8g of protein and 1.4g of salt. The salt in a bag is about 7% of an average adult's daily reference intake.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 28.7g is red. Saturates at 2.5g are amber. Sugars at 3.1g are green. Salt at 1.4g is amber, near the top of its band.

Allergens and diet

None of the 14 UK allergens appears in the published ingredients, and no crustacean ingredient is listed. The listing for this barcode carries no allergy advice and no diet statements, so read the pack for any may contain statement. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

What crinkle cut adds

The wavy blade gives each slice ridges and grooves, a firmer bite than a flat crisp and more room for seasoning. With a sweet, powdery seasoning like this one, the grooves hold the sugar and acid evenly, so every crisp gets its share.

How the crisps are made

Washed potatoes are sliced with a crinkled blade, rinsed and fried in the sunflower and rapeseed blend until the ridged slices are firm. The seasoning is tumbled on while they are warm.

Six bags for the week

Six bags cover a working week with one to spare. A sweet, tangy crisp suits a ham or salmon sandwich, and it has no heat for anyone who avoids chilli.

Who it suits

A sweet, tangy crisp with no heat suits anyone who finds salt and vinegar too sharp, and it is a familiar flavour for children. The 25g bag keeps each portion small.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the crisps make a sweet and tangy topping for a prawn cocktail or a fish pie. Scatter them just before serving.

Other Seabrook flavours

Prawn cocktail also appears in the Seabrook Crinkle Cut Meaty Variety box, with Canadian ham, beefy and sea salted. In the same six bag format we stock Seabrook Crinkle Cut Cheese and Onion, Sea Salted, Salt and Vinegar, Beefy, Cream Cheese and Chives and Tomato Ketchup.

Storage

Keep the bags in a cool, dry place and finish each bag once opened.

Other 6 x 25g packs of Seabrook we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

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