Kellogg's Froot Loops

Product name: Kellogg’s Froot Loops
Purchase details: £0.79 for a 350g box (Home Bargains)
Calories: 117 per 30g serving (159 per 30g serving with 125ml skimmed milk)
Country of origin: UK

I’ve got two different memories of Kellogg’s Froot Loops from my childhood. The main one is Woody sticking his head in a bowl of them (or something that was supposed to hint at them!) in Toy Story (see the end of this clip if you don’t know what I’m talking about). The other one, though, was being told that the different colours were artificial and all the additives made kids hyper. As a result, as much as I wanted to try the cereal, I never did.

 

As an adult, although I’ve been tempted to buy a box previously, I’ve always been put off by the high prices. That’s why, when I saw this amazing offer as part of Home Bargains’ ‘Spotted on Star Buys’ promotion, I was straight in there – the limited shelf life wasn’t going to bother me. As it happens, the ‘multi-grain cereal’ specified that it was made with natural colours and flavours...so there!

 

The ‘mixed cereal fruit flavoured loops’ were designed for kids and effectively looked like colourful Nestlé Cheerios and came in a red box that featured a toucan as its mascot. In addition to the positivity surrounding the lack of artificial colours and flavours, the cereal (made from corn, oats and wheat) also contained folic acid and various vitamins and minerals (including at least half of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C). On the downside, each 30g serving contained 14g of sugar...not so great.

The box contained around 11 servings and contained green, purple and yellow loops that were hard, lightweight and a little sticky to the touch. Combined, they produced a slightly juicy, fruity scent when dry, but smelt more of general cereal when covered in milk.

I assumed that the different colours represented different flavours so I tried each one on its own first. They all appeared to have a slightly sweet coating and they did taste pretty similar but with subtle differences. The yellow rings tasted like fairly plain cereal and, if anything, reminded me of Kellogg’s Corn Pops. In comparison, the green loops were sweeter and, although there was no immediately obvious fruity taste, they did seem to have a minimalist apple tang in the aftertaste. This was noticeable when dry but stronger when wet. The purple loops remained sweet but, again, there was no fruity flavour. At this stage, I couldn’t help but wonder why they were called 'Froot Loops'!

I obviously did proceed to eat combined spoonfuls of the cereal to get a proper idea of what it tasted like. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of flavour, but the green’s fruity hint definitely came out the strongest. However, just when I was thinking that the overall flavour was the same as any other sweet cereal, I found that an apricot taste emerged as more milk was absorbed. This was pleasant but I still wouldn’t have said the bowl screamed ‘fruit!’.

Texturally, the Froot Loops were very good. They remained nice and crispy, even when wet – their surfaces got a little soggy over time but this never affected the structure.

This cereal was definitely nice enough, and I enjoyed the sugary milk it left behind, but I’m glad I didn’t pay over the odds for a box since I didn’t find them very fruity at all. Coincidentally, I saw that Erin reviewed the American version over at Guilt Free Veggie yesterday, and it turns out our recipe is different...maybe I’d prefer the strength of flavour on offer in the USA?

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Poppa Tillas Mango Salsa

Product name: Poppa Tillas Mango Salsa
Purchase details: £0.79 for a 70g tub (Home Bargains)
Calories: 75 per 17.5g serving (298 per tub)
Country of origin: United Arab Emirates

I was really excited when I spotted this tube of Poppa Tillas Mango Salsa as I’d never seen a product like it before. The shape of the orange packaging may have suggested Pringles but the name, photo and Eastern illustrations screamed ‘poppadom snack’ – how exciting! I’ve only begun to like curry in the last few years but I’ve always been partial to a poppadom and, if I’m feeling brave, a bit of mango chutney, so these seemed like a great idea.

Produced for CTO Holdings, this ‘mango salsa flavoured fried corn snack’ contained both mango and curry powder and promised ‘a tasty fusion of Indian and Mexican flavours’.

The crisps were far smaller than I was expecting (the picture of the inside the tub helps give some perspective) and their concave shape made them look like miniature Popchips. However, their surface texture was rough rather than bumpy, although they did still have a bit of an orange dusting.

The Poppa Tillas had a tangy scent that probably came from the mango but it actually reminded me of tomato-based savoury snacks. They offered a decent flavour but, unfortunately, I didn’t think they tasted much different to other nibbles I’ve tried. I couldn’t decide exactly which ones, though, as I usually opt for standard crisps so it tends to be at other people’s houses that I try more ‘exotic’ things! Anyway, they were slightly salty but with a bit of sweetness which was quite like jam, and gave the overall feel of non-fishy Skips. There was also tiny spicy kick, along with the tomato aspect I’d picked up in the aroma.

The nibbles were very crispy and, whilst dry, this wasn’t in a bad way. What did disappoint me slightly was the fact they were too thick to replicate real poppadoms. I also didn’t think they tasted salty enough but, maybe if I wasn’t so used to eating them plain, I wouldn’t have thought twice about this! Interestingly, the saltiness came through more in the swallowing rather than the chewing.

The only other negative I found was that they were quite difficult to get out of the tube as I went further down it...and I have small hands! I ended up covered in crumbs but, then again, it was worth it. They may not have achieved an authentic poppadom and mango chutney flavour but they were very ‘moreish’ and enjoyable and I found that the 70g went a long way. Just be a bit careful if you give these a go – I somehow ‘burnt’ the roof of my mouth by eating them too quickly!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Grupa BGK Flips: Chrupki kukurydziane (czekolady)

Product name: Grupa BGK Flips: Chrupki kukurydziane (czekolady)
Purchase details: £0.69 for a 70g bag (Tesco Superstore)
Calories: 142 per 25g serving (398 per bag)
Country of origin: Poland 

There was something about this bright yellow bag of Grupa BGK Flips: Chrupki kukurydziane (czekolady) that filled me with both excitement and fear. It was the cartoon bunny juggling pieces of chocolate against a background of corn puffs that caught my eye. As a kid, I loved sandwiching a piece of chocolate between two crisps and I love the idea of crisp-filled chocolate, but chocolate flavoured crisps? I wasn’t so sure...

Thanks to Google’s translating function, I can tell you that ‘Chrupki kukurydziane’ means ‘corn crisps’ and ‘czekolady’, predictably, is ‘chocolate’. This was reassuring since the English description on the bag simply stated ‘chocolate flavoured corn puffs’! The ingredients mentioned a ‘chocolate flavoured cream’ that contained cocoa powder, and the whole bag consisted of 1% chocolate.

On opening the packet, I was stunned by the appearance which was not what I’d had in mind! The curved crisps were huge. Unfortunately, there was something about their pale brown colour that was flecked with darker speckles that I found really off-putting. This didn’t feel great either – it was a little moist and rubbery. On the plus side, every single piece was intact, and the inner corn puff appearance was nicely familiar. The gentle but deep scent was also pleasant. Whilst not smelling specifically of chocolate, I did associate it with children’s cocoa-containing cereals.

The next thing to surprise me was the texture. Biting through the surface presented the kind of crispiness you’d expect but, past this, the crisps were very soft and squidgy. If I wasn’t certain the bag had been completely sealed, and the puffs were in-date, I would have assumed they were stale. This took a bit of getting used to but there was something quite fun about the way, part way through each crisp, the rest of it pretty much dissolved by itself. (Letting the whole thing melt on the tongue was also an option.)

Now the part I’d been dreading a little bit – the taste! Slightly awkwardly, I wouldn’t say these tasted anything like chocolate. BUT...they were actually pretty nice! They had a delicate, sugary flavour that tasted just like sweet popcorn and I had no problem munching my way through the huge amount provided in the bag (in my defence, they didn’t weigh much!). The crisps also had a corn-like aftertaste which I recognised from sucking the cheesiness of Walkers Wotsits.

So, a bit of a mixed experience for me here. They didn’t look great, they didn’t taste like chocolate, and the texture could definitely have been crispier, but do you know what? I think I’d actually buy these again!

Appearance: 6/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 6/10
Overall score: 6.38/10

Своzе ХРУПКАВА ЦАРЕВИЦА

Product name: Своzе ХРУПКАВА ЦАРЕВИЦА
Purchase details: £0.59 for a 90g bar (99p Stores)
Calories: 133 per 25g serving (477 per bar)
Country of origin: Bulgaria

Well, this is a first – a review of a product I can’t pronounce. In fact, I had to rely on Microsoft’s ‘Symbol’ function just to write it! If it helps, though, the word ‘Своzе’ came up on my till receipt as ‘Svoge’ which is a town in Bulgaria, so I’m guessing that’s how you say the brand name.

Anyway, this bar’s red wrapper caught my eye, along with the imagery of what looked like Sugar Puffs. Thinking it would be something similar to Kinder Chocolate: With cereals, I had a closer look and discovered it was actually ‘milk chocolate with crunchy, salty corn snacks (13%)’. I quite like experimenting with sweet and savoury and, seeing the bar was a Mondelez International product, I thought it would be worth a try despite its cheap price (it was actually cheaper than I expected when I got it to the till – who knew you could get things for under £0.99 in 99p Stores?!).

Apart from the translation label on the back of the wrapper, all the writing on the packaging consisted of special characters, so I’m indebted to Google Translate for the little extra information I managed to obtain. The product name (‘ХРУПКАВА ЦАРЕВИЦА’) meant ‘crispy corn’ and the writing in the blue box (‘ИЗНЕНАДВАЩ НОВ ВКУС’) translated as ‘surprising new taste’. I then decided to quit whilst I was ahead in terms of language!

The slab of chocolate was divided into 15 pieces that featured a crown design. The plentiful corn pieces were visible through the base of the bar (and a little through the top!) and, combined with their hardness when it came to cutting through them, reminded me a bit of golden unpopped popcorn kernels. Inside, though, they just looked like cereal.

The bar emitted a really basic chocolate scent which didn’t have a lot to it. Unfortunately, this was also true of the taste which wasn’t particularly sweet or milky. The chocolate also had a really grainy melt and, bearing in mind the corn pieces were painful when left behind in the mouth, it just wasn’t worth consuming the bar in this way.

On the plus side, the extremely crispy corn pieces rescued this product. Initially, they tasted like salted popcorn, but then the flavour was far more in keeping with Doritos Cool Original. This interesting element distracted from the cheap-tasting chocolate, and the bar was perfectly enjoyable to chew as there was a lot going on texturally. The thinness of the chocolate contributed to this as it made the corn an even bigger feature than it might otherwise have been.

Due to its low cost, I didn’t have high expectations of this product, but I did quite like the way the saltiness blended with the chocolate. I thought I’d end up comparing the concept to Cadbury Crunchums but the execution of this bar was pretty different.

If you stumble upon Своzе ХРУПКАВА ЦАРЕВИЦА, I’d recommend you giving it a try for novelty’s sake, but I very much doubt it would become a regular purchase!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 6.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 6.88/10