Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted Crisps, 40g

This is Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted in a 40g bag, a single portion of the brand's plainest crisp. The front of the pack reads lightly sea salted, and the full product name on the listing is lightly sea salted potato crisps.

Three ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, sunflower oil and sea salt. That is the whole list. With no seasoning blend, what you taste is the potato, the oil and the salt, and the texture of a hand cooked crisp.

One bag, one serving

The label treats the whole bag as one serving and gives 208 kcal (866 kJ), 11.7g of fat, 1g of saturates, 21.4g of carbohydrate, 0.2g of sugars, 2.7g of fibre, 2.8g of protein and 0.26g of salt for the 40g. That is about 10% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 17% of the fat and 4% of the salt.

Per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 519 kcal (2164 kJ), 29.3g of fat, 2.4g of saturates, 53.4g of carbohydrate, 0.4g of sugars, 6.7g of fibre, 6.9g of protein and 0.65g of salt, the same figures as the 150g sharing bag of the same crisps.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 29.3g is red, as it is for fried crisps generally. Saturates at 2.4g are amber. Sugars at 0.4g are green. Salt at 0.65g is amber, towards the low end of its band.

How light is lightly

At 0.65g of salt per 100g, this has half the salt of Tyrrells Cheddar Cheese and Chive, at 1.3g, and a little over a third of the salt of Tyrrells Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar, at 1.8g. A 40g bag carries 0.26g of salt in all.

Hand cooked

The listing describes these as hand cooked English crisps. Hand cooking means frying the slices in batches: the oil temperature drops when each batch goes in and recovers as it cooks, which gives a harder, more uneven crunch, with some slices curled, folded or golden at the edges. On a plain crisp, that texture is the main event.

Sea salt

Sea salt is made by evaporating seawater. Chemically it is mostly sodium chloride, like any other salt, so it counts towards the salt figure in the same way; the differences are in the crystal and in traces of other minerals, not in how much salt you eat.

Sunflower oil

The only oil on the list is sunflower oil, a light oil with a neutral taste that lets the potato come through. The bag is packaged in a protective atmosphere, which keeps oxygen away from the oil until it is opened.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are highlighted in the published ingredients, but the allergy advice says the crisps may contain milk. The pack says they are suitable for vegetarians and carries a gluten free claim. There is no vegan claim, and the may contain advice is worth noting for anyone avoiding milk. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

What the brand leaves out

The pack says Tyrrells never uses artificial flavours, colours or MSG. With three ingredients, this is about as short as a crisp label gets.

The pack

The blue bag uses a black and white vintage photograph, like the other Tyrrells packs we stock: three bathers doing handstands on a beach, the same picture as on the 150g sharing bag.

Who it suits

A plain crisp with a short list suits anyone who prefers no strong flavour, including many children, and a 40g bag is a single, measured portion. Check the may contain advice first for anyone avoiding milk.

Why a 40g bag

Most of the Tyrrells flavours we stock come in 150g sharing bags. A 40g bag gives the plain crisp in a size for one, and the label counts the whole bag as a single serving, so there is no guessing at portions.

Picnics and packed lunches

A single bag travels better than a sharing bag decanted into a box, and a hard, hand cooked crisp survives a lunchbox well. It is also sturdy enough for a thick dip such as houmous or guacamole.

Serving ideas

A 40g bag fits a lunchbox beside a sandwich, a picnic, or a pint at the pub. Plain crisps also go with anything: soup, a cheese sandwich, a ploughman's or a bowl of dip.

The sharing bag

For a table rather than a lunchbox, we stock the same lightly sea salted crisps in a 150g sharing bag, which the label suggests serves five.

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 Tyrrells flavours

In 150g sharing bags we also stock Tyrrells Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar, Smoked Paprika, Sweet Chilli and Red Pepper, Cheddar Cheese and Chive and Roasted Chicken and Sage, and Tyrrells Truffle and Sea Salt comes in a 135g bag.

Sizes of Tyrrells Lightly Sea Salted Crisps we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives England 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.