How rice cakes have changed! (Quaker Snack a Jacks)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Quaker Snack a Jacks
Date:	03/06/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: price

Let's be clear about one thing, I don't like rice cakes. They remind me of the eighties when us ladies, and possibly some gents too, were trying to lose a few pounds and there was very little available in the form of snacks so people just chewed on bland, unflavoured rice cakes to try and reduce their hunger. So when I first heard about Snack A Jacks I was sure I wouldn't like them as they are rice cakes. How wrong I was!

Years ago I worked in an office and a few of us had the jumbo Snack A Jacks to eat on our morning and afternoon breaks. However after I stopped working in offices I gradually forgot about these gems until recently.

For some reason I can't find anywhere that stocks the jumbo version so I decided if I was going to have some Snack A Jacks in the house I would have to have the crisp version. I found some at Tesco, £1.98 for a bag of 6 which is actually quite expensive but bought them anyway. I chose the salt and vinegar flavour and have been eating a packet whenever I get an attack of late night munchies ever since.

The packets are 22g in size and contain little flavoured rice cakes about the size of a 2 pound coin. The stats for this packet are as follows: 89 calories, 0.4g sugars, 1.6g fat, 0.2g saturates and 0.6g salt. Apparently they are now 50% lower in salt than they were according to the front of the packet. But forget the salt issue, 89 calories and 1.6g fat! Brilliant!

The salt and vinegar flavour come in a blue bag with pictures of Snack A Jacks on the front and the above nutritional information on the bottom right hand corner. They are suitable for vegetarians and coeliacs too.

Yes, these are rice cakes but not eighties style! The smell of salt and vinegar when I open the packet is very strong and I know these are going to really taste of something. They do. Salt and vinegar and not a hint of nasty rice cake taste. I honestly would not know there was rice cakes in these if I couldn't see what I was eating which is great for me with my dislike of them.

They are bite size snacks that crunch in the mouth and the 22g pack, although that sounds very small, is adequate to fill a snack size hole. Sometimes at night I get a bit of a craving for something to eat and I don't want to be eating high fat or calorie laden foods so I reach for a pack of these Snack A Jacks and after I've eaten them my slight hunger has gone. I doubt they would satisfy anything greater than slight hunger but they are only a snack after all.

Another great aspect to them is if I get an attack of hypoglycaemia when my blood sugar is at rock bottom a packet of these gets me quickly back on top of things without lots of calories. Sometimes blood sugar problems can happen even after a meal and you aren't actually hungry but need to eat so I always look for something low in fat and calories to be able to grab should this happen and these are just that.

The only little gripe I have is the price, I think £2 is a bit on the expensive side for 6 packs of these which is why I'm only giving them 4 stars. But for taste, a filling snack that's low in calories, fat and salt and convenience these are brilliant. Try them!

Summary: Love them.