Walkers Wotsits Sweet and Spicy Snacks, 6 x 16g

Sweet and Spicy is the hot Wotsits: the baked corn puff in a red Flamin' Hot coating, sweet first and then warm. This multipack holds six 16g bags, 96g in all, and the pack says each bag is one serving. The full product name on the pack is sweet and spicy Flamin' Hot flavour corn puffs, and the pack names Walkers Snack Foods Ltd as the maker.

The ingredients

According to the pack, the puffs are made from maize, rapeseed oil and a Flamin' Hot flavour of sugar, acidity regulators (sodium acetates and malic acid), flavour enhancers (monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotide), flavouring (containing soya and wheat), fructose, salt, dried onion, hydrolysed vegetable protein (containing soya), dried garlic, soybean derivatives, wheat derivatives and two colours, paprika extract and sulphite ammonia caramel.

Sweet first

Sugar leads the flavour and fructose, a fruit sugar, follows, so the first taste is sweet. Even so, sugars are 4g per 100g and 0.6g in a bag, green on the front of pack scale.

Then the heat

No chilli is named on the list. The heat comes from the flavouring, with garlic and onion around it, and it builds as you eat. Expect a warm kick rather than a burn.

The tang

Sodium acetates and malic acid give a sharp, vinegary tang behind the sweetness. Sodium acetates are the same acidity regulators used in many salt and vinegar seasonings.

Savoury depth and MSG

The flavour enhancers are monosodium glutamate and disodium 5'-ribonucleotide, and hydrolysed vegetable protein adds more savoury depth. Anyone who avoids MSG should choose Wotsits Really Cheesy, which has no MSG on its list.

The colour

The red comes from paprika extract and sulphite ammonia caramel, a caramel colour. Paprika here is a colour; it does not add heat.

Baked

The pack's panels carry the Baked Wotsits name. 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, and the oil and flavour go on after.

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 2.5g of saturates per 100g, amber on the front of pack scale.

Soybean and wheat derivatives

Soybean derivatives and wheat derivatives appear on the list in their own right, beside the flavouring and the hydrolysed vegetable protein, which is why soya and wheat are highlighted more than once.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 85 kcal (357 kJ), 4.8g of fat, 0.4g of saturates, 10g of carbohydrate, 0.6g of sugars, 0.2g of fibre, 0.9g of protein and 0.31g of salt for each 16g bag, which it puts at 4% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 7% of the fat and 5% of the salt. Per 100g it is 534 kcal (2232 kJ), 30g of fat, 2.5g of saturates, 60g of carbohydrate, 4g of sugars, 1.1g of fibre, 5.5g of protein and 1.9g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 30g is red. Saturates at 2.5g are amber. Sugars at 4g are green. Salt at 1.9g is red. The small bag keeps each portion to 85 kcal, the figure on the front of the pack.

Allergens and diet

The ingredients on the pack highlight soya, in the flavouring, the hydrolysed vegetable protein and the soybean derivatives, and wheat, in the flavouring and the wheat derivatives. The allergy advice on the pack says the puffs may contain milk, gluten, barley, celery and mustard. The listing marks them suitable for vegetarians; there is no vegan statement, 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.

Compared with Really Cheesy

Sweet and Spicy has no milk on its list, where Really Cheesy is built on cheese and whey. It has more salt, 1.9g per 100g against 1.58g, and a bag of 16g gives 85 kcal against 82 kcal for the 16.5g cheese bag.

The texture

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

Six bags

Six bags cover a school or working week with one to spare, at 85 kcal a bag.

The pack

The red outer bag shows the Walkers logo over the Baked Wotsits name, an 85 kcal per pack roundel and a band for six bags of Sweet and Spicy Flamin' Hot, with one of the small bags in the corner.

Who it suits

A sweet and warm puff suits older children and adults who like a kick with their snack. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten, soya or MSG.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the puffs make a red, sweet and spicy crumb for chicken wings or the top of a mac and cheese.

Storage and packaging

The listing advises a cool, dry place and points you to the Walkers website for how to recycle the packets.

Other Wotsits

For the classic cheese puff, we stock Wotsits Really Cheesy in six, twelve and twenty bag multipacks and a 36g grab bag, and for a crunchier puff, Wotsits Crunchy Really Meaty.

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.