Infuzions Bluey Poppeas Backyard BBQ | Chewsday Review

Bluey has popped up in the snack aisle once again with enough marketing claims to have tails wagging. Let's dig in and find out if it's a lunchbox winner or all bark and no bite.

Ingredients

Vegetable (51%) (Yellow Pea (40%), Potato, Onion, Tomato, Garlic), Sunflower and/or Canola Oil, Rice, Bamboo Fibre, Sugar, Glucose, Food Acids (Sodium Diacetate, Citric Acid), Mineral Salt (Potassium Chloride), Spices (Hot Paprika, Smoked Sweet Paprika), Salt, Maltodextrin (Potato, Corn), Yeast Extract, Natural Flavouring, Carob, Natural Colour (Paprika Extract), Antioxidants (Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract).
May contain: gluten, milk, soy, peanut, almond, cashew, sesame, sulphites.

Positives

The Bluey Poppeas contain some added sugar, but it’s minimal at 8.4g per 100g (my target is less than 15g per 100g).
Saturated fat is well within the target at 1.8g per 100g (I’m looking for less than 3g per 100g).
Sodium is 347mg per 100g, this is also just below my target of 400mg per 100g. This is much lower than Arnott’s Bluey Pizza Flavoured Snacks (447mg of sodium per 100g) and Messy Monkeys Whole Grain Bites Cheese (435mg per 100g).
They do *technically* contain 51% vegetables, made up of yellow peas (40%) and potato, onion and tomato. While the yellow split peas are marketed as the hero ingredient here, it’s important to note that it’s not the same as eating the split peas we’d use in soups and other dishes. Generally, they will have been milled into flour and processed to create the light and crunchy puff.

Negatives

I’m looking for products to have at least 3g of fibre per serve. With only 0.7g per serve, these Bluey Poppeas are fairly similar to puffed air! Fibre helps us feel full – this little snack isn’t going to be very filling. Arnott’s Bluey Pizza Flavoured Snacks contain significantly more fibre at 2.2g per serve, along with Messy Monkeys Whole Grain Bites Cheese (2g per serve).
Total fat is 22g per 100g, this is more than double what I’m looking for (10g per 100g) but it isn’t a major concern as the serving size is small and the saturated fat is well within the guidelines. This is on par with Arnott’s Bluey Pizza Flavoured Snacks (21.5g per 100g) but higher than Messy Monkeys Whole Grain Bites Cheese (16.9g per 100g).
Each pack weighs only 10g and at $4.00 for a pack of 5 this works out to an expensive 80c per pack or a whopping $80 per kilo! You’re paying for the convenience factor plus the Bluey branding.
The Poppeas are small and irregular in shape (less than a 5c coin). While they are quite soft, the pack warns “Poppeas are small and crunchy; they’re best enjoyed by children aged 3+”.

Marketing

Bluey and Bingo are front and centre, but it’s hard to find space on the packaging without marketing messages!

“51% veggie content.” This is true, but check my point above.
“100% Australian yellow peas.” Sure, but overall this product is made in Australia from only 60% Australian ingredients.
“No artificial colours or flavours.” This claim is not uncommon in the snack aisle.
“Baked not fried.” This doesn’t tell us a whole lot really.
“30% less fat than regular chips.” This checks out. Smith’s BBQ chips contain 33g total fat per 100g, which is just over 30% more than the Poppeas.
“13% plant protein.” Yes… per 100g this product contains 13g of protein (13%) which sounds impressive but generally most children meet or exceed their protein needs across the day. One 10g pack of Poppeas provides 10% of a toddler’s daily protein requirements.
“48 calories per cup.” What a strange claim for a children’s product.
“4 health star rating.” This shows the product compares relatively well against other savoury puff snacks.
“No preservatives or added MSG.” They could have left this off but I guess they had a speck of space to fill.
“Vegan friendly.” This is probably worth clarifying that despite the BBQ flavour, there are no animal-derived ingredients.

Alternatives

While these little Poppeas do tick a couple of boxes (sodium, saturated fat and sugar), they are unlikely to be very filling for children due to the lack of fibre and small serve size.
Similar packaged snacks like Messy Monkeys Whole Grain Bites Cheese and Arnott’s Bluey Pizza Flavoured Snacks offer more fibre and comparable fat but the trade-off is slightly higher salt content. The quest continues for a packaged savoury snack that ticks all the boxes!
Looking for more support choosing snacks? Our Toddler and Family Mealtimes memberships include a comprehensive product guide for savoury snacks, as well as over 15 other categories.

The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.