Popcorners Sour Cream & Chives | Chewsday Review
Today I'm popping back to the snack aisle to see whether this product leaves me a-maized, or with a chip on my shoulder.
- Corn (74%), rice bran oil, maltodextrin, sugar, milk powder, salt, mineral salt (potassium chloride), onion powder, yeast extract, natural flavours (milk, soy), food acids (citric acid, lactic acid), cheese powder (milk), whey powder (milk), herbs (parsley, chives), natural colour (paprika extract), sour cream powder (milk), hydrolysed vegetable protein.
- Common allergens: milk, soy.
- At 396 mg per 100g, sodium (salt) just scrapes in under my target.
- As expected for a savoury product, sugar is well within guidelines (3.0g per 100g).
- Saturated fat (4.5g per 100g) is above my target from the rice bran oil, milk powder and cheese powder. This figure sits a lot higher than other similar savoury snacks – Grainwaves Sour Cream & Chives have a saturated fat content of 2.1g per 100g, and most flavoured potato crisps are under 2.5g per 100g. Interestingly, Popcorners in sea salt flavour have less than half the saturated fat of sour cream & chives (2.2g per 100g).
- At 0.3g per serving, fibre misses the mark (we’re aiming for at least 3g per serve). This is disappointing as popcorn is much higher in fibre, like Cobs Sea Salt Popcorn at 2.3g per serving, or Woolworths Air Popped Popcorn at 1.6g per serving. Grainwaves are also higher in fibre (1.4g per serving).
- Popcorners are expensive! One pack will set you back $4.80, which works out to $36.90 per kg, or almost 10 times the price of home made popcorn.
- “Never fried.” So you’ve told us 3 times on the packet!
- “Popped for lighter snacking” and “90 calories per serve.” These are being marketed as a healthier alternative to potato crisps, despite the saturated fat content being higher than many chips.
- “From the golden fields…to the popping machine.” One two, skip a few.
- 2 health star rating shows that these don’t compare well to other snacks in the same category.
- Popcorners are much closer to a crisp than popcorn. I wouldn’t add them to my regular snack rotation due to the high saturated fat and low fibre content.
- Grainwaves Sour Cream & Chives meet my sodium and saturated fat targets and are higher in fibre.
- Popcorn is another option that ticks all boxes, but is a choking risk for little ones, so best saved for older kiddos. Home made is by far the cheapest, but there are some decent supermarket options too.
The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.
