Walkers Wotsits Bag of Bones Cheese Corn Puffs, 120g

Bag of Bones is a shaped Wotsits: the same idea as the classic cheesy corn puff, pressed into skulls, ribcages and bony hands. This is the 120g sharing bag, and the front of the pack names the flavour Really Cheesy and says the puffs are baked.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the puffs are made from corn (maize), rapeseed oil and a cheese flavour of dried cheese (from milk), whey permeate (from milk), salt, cheese seasoning (containing milk), potassium chloride, yeast extract, lactic acid, flavouring (containing milk), a flavour enhancer (disodium 5'-ribonucleotide) and two colours, paprika extract and annatto norbixin.

How a corn puff is made

Corn puffs start as a maize meal that is cooked under pressure and pushed through a shaped opening, where it puffs up as it meets the air. Here the opening gives the bone shapes. The pack says the puffs are baked, and the rapeseed oil and cheese flavour, the next two ingredients on the list, go on after.

The cheese

Dried cheese leads the cheese flavour, with whey permeate, a milk ingredient left when the protein is taken out of whey, and a cheese seasoning. Lactic acid adds the tang of a mature cheese, and yeast extract a savoury depth behind it.

The flavour enhancer

Disodium 5'-ribonucleotide is a flavour enhancer that deepens the savoury taste. It is not monosodium glutamate, which is not on the list, though yeast extract is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether.

The orange colour

The colour comes from paprika extract and annatto norbixin. Annatto is a natural orange colour made from the seeds of the achiote tree, the same colour used in red Leicester cheese.

Where the sugars come from

Sugar is not on the ingredients list, yet the label gives 7.6g of sugars per 100g. That comes mainly from the milk sugar, lactose, in the whey permeate and the other dairy ingredients.

Corn, not potato

Wotsits are made from corn (maize), not potato. A corn puff has a lighter, more open texture than a potato crisp.

Rapeseed oil

Rapeseed oil is the only oil on the list, and the label gives 3.1g of saturates per 100g, amber on the front of pack scale.

Potassium chloride and the salt figure

Potassium chloride sits in the cheese flavour beside salt. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium. The label gives 1.7g of salt per 100g and 0.5g for a 30g serving.

Numbers per serving

The label gives 163 kcal (681 kJ), 9.8g of fat, 0.9g of saturates, 17g of carbohydrate, 2.3g of sugars, 0.4g of fibre, 1.6g of protein and 0.5g of salt for each 30g serving. That is about 8% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 14% of the fat and 8% of the salt. Per 100g it is 544 kcal (2270 kJ), 33g of fat, 3.1g of saturates, 57g of carbohydrate, 7.6g of sugars, 1.2g of fibre, 5.4g of protein and 1.7g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 33g is red. Saturates at 3.1g are amber. Sugars at 7.6g are amber. Salt at 1.7g is red, just over the 1.5g line.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients contain milk, in the dried cheese, the whey permeate, the cheese seasoning and the flavouring. The pack's allergy advice says the puffs may contain cereals containing gluten, mustard and soya, so they do not suit anyone who must avoid those. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

Compared with Really Cheesy

The classic Wotsits Really Cheesy has its own recipe: 494 kcal and 1.58g of salt per 100g, against 544 kcal and 1.7g here. The bone shapes carry a little more fat, 33g per 100g against 31.9g.

The shapes

The puffs come as skulls, ribcages and bony hands, which makes the bag a natural fit for a Halloween bowl or a spooky party table.

The texture

A baked corn puff is light and airy, with a crisp outside that softens quickly in the mouth, and the cheese coating leaves orange dust on the fingers.

Who it suits

A cheesy puff in fun shapes suits a children's party or a film night, with an adult keeping an eye on the salt. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding milk.

Serving the bag

Tip the bag into a bowl with other party food, or scatter the shapes over a platter of cheese straws and cocktail sausages. A 30g serving is a small handful.

A 30g serving

The label gives its figures per 30g serving, a small handful. At 120g, the bag holds four of those servings, so it is one to share rather than a bag for one.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the puffs make a bright orange, cheesy crumb for the top of a macaroni cheese, or a coating for chicken strips.

Storage

Keep the bag somewhere cool and dry, and close it between servings so the puffs stay crisp.

Other Wotsits

We also stock Wotsits Really Cheesy in a 36g grab bag and in six, twelve and twenty bag multipacks, Wotsits Sweet and Spicy in six bags, and Wotsits Crunchy Really Meaty at 115g.

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