Walkers Monster Munch Roast Beef Snacks, 6 x 20g

Monster Munch are the Walkers baked corn snacks shaped like monster claws, and Roast Beef is one of the two classic flavours. This multipack holds six 20g bags, 120g in all, and the pack says each bag is one serving. The full product name on the pack is roast beef flavour baked corn snacks, and the pack names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the snacks are made from maize, rapeseed oil and a roast beef seasoning of wheat flour (fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin), hydrolysed soya protein, whey permeate (from milk), flavourings, rusk (from wheat), sugar, flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotides), onion powder, salt, garlic powder, ammonia caramel for colour and spices.

Beef without beef

There is no beef on the list. The roast beef taste comes from hydrolysed soya protein, flavourings and monosodium glutamate, with rusk, onion and garlic for a gravy like base, and the pack says the snacks are suitable for vegetarians.

Hydrolysed soya protein

Hydrolysed soya protein is soya protein broken down into savoury building blocks, which gives a meaty, brothy taste, and it is why soya is highlighted.

Whey permeate

Whey permeate, a milk ingredient left when the protein is taken out of whey, adds a creamy base to the seasoning and is the reason milk is highlighted.

Fortified flour

UK wheat flour is fortified by law with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin, which is why those four appear in brackets after the wheat flour.

Rusk

Rusk is dried, crumbed wheat bread, the ingredient used in British sausages. Here it helps carry the seasoning and adds to its toasty, roast note.

Claws

The pack plays on the shape: each piece is a monster's claw, with a hole to poke through. The back of the pack invites you to bite off each toe.

Baked, not fried

The pack says the snacks are baked, not fried. Corn snacks like these start as a maize meal that is cooked under pressure and pushed through a shaped opening, where it puffs as it meets the air, and the rapeseed oil and seasoning go on after. Baked does not mean without fat: the label gives 25g of fat per 100g.

MSG

The flavour enhancers are monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotides, and hydrolysed soya protein adds more savoury depth, so these are not for anyone who avoids MSG.

The spices

The spices are named only as spices, and there is no chilli on the list, so the roast beef flavour has warmth but no heat.

The colour

The brown colour comes from ammonia caramel, a caramel colour.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 98 kcal (412 kJ), 5g of fat, 0.4g of saturates, 12g of carbohydrate, 0.6g of sugars, 0.3g of fibre, 1.2g of protein and 0.35g of salt for each 20g bag, which it puts at 5% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 7% of the fat and 6% of the salt. Per 100g it is 492 kcal (2061 kJ), 25g of fat, 2.2g of saturates, 59g of carbohydrate, 3g of sugars, 1.7g of fibre, 6g of protein and 1.73g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 25g is red. Saturates at 2.2g are amber. Sugars at 3g are green. Salt at 1.73g is red. The small 20g bag keeps each portion to 98 kcal, the figure on the front of the pack.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, in the wheat flour and the rusk, soya, in the hydrolysed soya protein, and milk, in the whey permeate. The pack says it is made in a factory that also handles gluten, barley, celery and mustard. The pack says the snacks are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten or soya. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Six small bags

At 20g, each bag is a small portion, 98 kcal. Six bags cover a school week with one to spare.

The pack

The yellow outer bag carries the Walkers logo, the green and red Monster Munch name over a pink monster, a 98 kcal per pack roundel and a band for six bags of Roast Beef.

Who it suits

A roast beef snack with no beef suits vegetarian children who like a meaty flavour, and a fun shape suits a lunchbox or a party. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten, soya, milk or MSG.

Serving ideas

A bag goes with a cheese or ham sandwich; for a party, tip a few bags into a bowl with Pickled Onion Monster Munch.

In the kitchen

Crushed, a couple of bags make a savoury, roast beef crumb for the top of a cottage pie or a macaroni cheese.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place. Its recycling mark says recycle at store, UK only, and do not recycle at home.

Other Monster Munch

In the same six bag format we stock Walkers Monster Munch Pickled Onion, and Roast Beef is also one of the flavours in the twelve bag Monster Munch Variety pack, four bags of it.

Sizes of Walkers Monster Munch Roast Beef Snacks 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.