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Temole Avocado Chips Tomato Salsa | Chewsday Review

Another review of a chippie pretending to be a vegetable! I’ve done potato chips, lentil chips, mushroom chips, corn chips and more, but so far very few have stacked up. Surely the mighty avo will conquer all and give us a worthy ‘healthy’ chip alternative? Spoiler: it doesn’t.

Ingredients

Avocado (30%), Brown rice, Corn, Onion, Tomato (5%), Lime, Rice Bran Oil, Sesame Seeds, Spinach Powder, Parsley, Thyme, Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Tomato Powder, Chilli Powder, Lime Extract, Sea Salt.
These avocado chips are only 30% avocado. Yep, you read that right, not even half of these are actually avocado! As an avo lover, I’m disappointed.
Considering these are “tomato salsa” flavour, there’s actually more brown rice and corn than there is tomato (which is only 5% of these chips).
There’s likely a similar amount of brown rice and corn as avocado, so they’re really an avocado/brown rice/corn chip.
Allergens: Sesame
May contain: Milk

Positives

The fibre (2 g per serve) might look like more than veggie chips (0.8 g per serve) or lentil chips (1.0 g per serve) but the serving size of these avocado chips is almost double the others, so they end up very similar. They likely have more fibre than regular Doritos, but we’re not really eating chips for their fibre content.
This product is low in sugar, which should be pretty standard for a savoury chip.
The packaging is Instagram worthy, but why are there passionfruit and apples on it? Maybe brown rice and corn weren’t pretty enough for the designer…

Negatives

This product is above recommendations for total fat (26.8 g per 100 g) and saturated fat (5.7g per 100g). Though the total fat is high, it’s similar to other tortilla chips. The saturated fat content is about double what you would find in Mission Original Tortilla Chips (2.4 g per 100 g) and flavoured Doritos (3 g per 100 g). I’m quite surprised by this given the ingredients.
The sodium is just above recommendations at 440 mg per 100 g. This is less than other flavoured corn chips, such as Supreme Cheese Doritos (609 mg per 100 g), but a less salty option would be Mission Original Tortilla Strips with only 150 mg per 100 g.
These are expensive at $100 per kg! Which is probably why they come in such a teeny tiny packet (40g) – I don’t think many people could justify buying them if they came in a regular sized chip packet!

Marketing

“Made with real avocado.” Not wrong but as I’ve already said… there’s really not that much avocado in these. It works out to only 12 g of avocado per serve! (Ok, I’ll stop now!)
“Gluten free.” True.
“Whole grain” – there’s no regulation on using a whole grain content statement on labels. I’m assuming they are referring to the brown rice but keep in mind that just under 30% of this product is brown rice. Avocado is also not a grain so this is a classic example of companies using buzz words to help sell a product.

Alternatives

The fibre content in these is decent and there is less salt than other flavoured corn chips, but they’re higher in saturated fat than regular tortilla chips, and are super expensive.
Mission Original Tortilla Strips are lower in salt and saturated fat, and are delicious paired with homemade guacamole. That way you get WAY more avo (Nope… I’m still not over it).
If you and your family have chips occasionally, you don’t have to find a “better” chip. It’s ok to choose the ones you enjoy the most. If you’ve bought these thinking they are a healthier option than regular corn chips, I’d recommend offering rice crackers, corn thins or popcorn (for older children) as an alternative crunchy, savoury snack.