Walkers Oven Baked Variety Crisps, 6 x 22g

Walkers Oven Baked Variety puts three flavours of the baked range in one multipack: two bags each of salt and vinegar, sea salt, and cheese and onion, six 22g bags and 132g in all. Every bag is a baked potato snack made from potato flakes and starch rather than a fried slice.

What is in the box

The front of the pack lists 2 x salt and vinegar, 2 x sea salt and 2 x cheese and onion, and shows the three small bags in green, red and blue. Six bags cover a working or school week with a change of flavour every day or two.

Salt and vinegar

The salt and vinegar bags use flavourings made with barley malt vinegar extract and citric acid for the tang, carried on lactose from milk, with potassium chloride and paprika extract. They contain barley, a cereal with gluten, and milk.

Sea salt

The sea salt bags are the plain ones: potato flakes, starch, rapeseed oil, sugar, lecithins, a seasoning of sea salt, salt and flavourings, sunflower oil and annatto for colour. No allergens are highlighted in their ingredients.

Cheese and onion

The cheese and onion bags are seasoned with whey permeate, onion powder, whey protein, garlic, a little dried cheese, whey powder and skimmed milk powder, with citric and malic acid for tang. They contain milk.

The published table

The published listing gives a nutrition table for each flavour, and every 22g bag gives 96 kcal. Per 100g, salt and vinegar gives 435 kcal (1829 kJ), 13g of fat, 1.4g of saturates, 72g of carbohydrate, 5.8g of sugars, 6.1g of fibre, 5.9g of protein and 0.88g of salt. Sea salt gives 438 kcal (1841 kJ), 73g of carbohydrate, 5.4g of sugars, 6.3g of fibre and 0.85g of salt, and cheese and onion gives 437 kcal (1840 kJ), 72g of carbohydrate, 7.3g of sugars, 6.2g of fibre, 6.1g of protein and 0.89g of salt, with the same 13g of fat and 1.4g of saturates. Each bag in the box carries its own panel.

Flavour by flavour

Per bag, salt is 0.19g for salt and vinegar, 0.19g for sea salt and 0.2g for cheese and onion. The single flavour six bag packs of the same recipes, which we also stock, carry the same figures.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, all three flavours are amber for fat, at 13g, where fried crisps are red, and green for saturates. Sugars are amber for all three, between 5.4g and 7.3g, and salt is amber, between 0.85g and 0.89g.

Allergy advice

The published ingredients highlight barley and milk in the salt and vinegar bags and milk in the cheese and onion bags. The single flavour packs of the same recipes say the salt and vinegar and cheese and onion bags may contain mustard, soya, wheat and other cereals containing gluten, and the sea salt bags may contain cereals containing gluten, milk, mustard and soya. Read the panel on each bag before sharing. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Diet

The pack says the snacks are suitable for vegetarians. There is no vegan claim, two of the three recipes contain milk, and there is no gluten free claim.

Baked, not fried

The pack says the range is always baked, never fried. Potato flakes, which are cooked, mashed and dried potato, are mixed with starch, shaped and baked; the pack pictures thin, ridged ovals, light with an even snap.

Potato flakes

All three flavours share the same base: potato flakes, which are cooked, mashed and dried potato, with starch to hold the shape. The seasoning is the only thing that changes from bag to bag.

Choosing a bag

If you are handing out bags, the sea salt is the mildest and suits a child who dislikes strong flavours, the cheese and onion is soft and savoury, and the salt and vinegar is the sharp one.

The paper outer bag

The brand says the outer bag is now paper based and can be recycled at home, while the six inner bags are still plastic, to keep the snacks fresh, and can be taken to store recycling points.

What the pack leaves out

The listing says the snacks are free from added MSG, artificial colours and artificial preservatives. The colours used are paprika extract and annatto, both from plants.

Who the box suits

A mixed box suits a household where one person wants a sharp crisp, another a plain one and another cheese and onion, all in the lighter, baked style. It also saves buying three separate multipacks.

Storage

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

Each flavour on its own

All three flavours are sold in their own six bag packs, which we stock: Walkers Oven Baked Salt and Vinegar, Sea Salt and Cheese and Onion. We also stock Walkers Oven Baked Prawn Cocktail in six bag and 37.5g packs.

Other 6 x 22g packs of Walkers Baked 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.