I won't be going back to these basics, I cat tell you that much! (Sainsbury's Basics Crisps)

Member Name: xxfoxyredxx

Product:	Sainsbury's Basics Crisps
Date:	15/03/09 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Incredibly cheap

Disadvantages: Lack in quality and flavour

When it comes to crisps I couldn't live without them in my life! I will regularly sit and eat three bags on the trot without even thinking about it and love a crisp sarnie!

Usually I eat Mccoy's (Paprika flavour rocks my world) or I love Walkers crisps and pretty much will chomp my way through any flavour really (but the vile limited edition fish and chip flavour of course!) and I do love Pringles and things like that. Really when it comes to crisps I'm not too fussy and and am easily pleased really!

So today when I nipped over to Sainsbury's to get myself a few goodies for a quiet Sunday night in front of the tv I thought I would try these out for a change. Not just because Dooyoo are taking ages adding my suggestions and I am left with nothing to review and I'd seen this link was here already last week but also because priced at 76p for 12 bags it seemed excellent value and a very worth a go and could really save me a lot of money with my love of crisps in the long run!

The Packaging....

Well I am reviewing the variety pack but please note you can get a bag of 12 ready salted crisps from Sainsbury's 'Basics' as well for 47p and the packaging is very similar to this indeed.

The outer bag is white plastic. On the top there is a band of bright orange colour and on that in white writing we are told they are indeed Sainsbury's 'Basics' then in orange writing I am told they are Crisps (like I hadn't guessed lol), 4 x Ready Salted Flavour, 4 x Salt & Vinegar Flavour and 4 x Cheese & Onion Flavour. Then I'm told the bag contains 12 bags and that these are 'No fancy packaging, still great for lunchboxes', then there are two odd shaped circles scribbled on and then there are two bright green circles on the left hand side of the front of the bag and in one I'm told they are now cooked in sunflower oil and in the other I am told that they only contain natural colours & flavours. On the back of the bag this time all in black writing I am told they are an 'Assorted pack of ready salted flavour, salt & vinegar flavour and cheese & onion flavour crisps. Then for each flavour clearly laid out I am given a nutritional information guide which is very comprehensive indeed and ingredients are listed, allergy advice is given, information on how to store them is listed, contact details for Sainsbury's are given, I am given the overall size of the bag (216g) and told that each bag is 18g, best before date is stamped on and finally there is a bar-code on there.

This is very simple and basic packaging. If your interested in purchasing these you can't miss them on the shelf as they stick out like a sore thumb and scream economy at you with the bold white and orange theme going on! However I'm a great believer in it's not always about the packaging and price when it comes to taste... well not all the time anyway lol.

The individual bags are very in keeping appearance wise with the outer bag of course. White plastic with lots of orange and black writing on telling you what they are and that they are Sainsbury's 'Basics', an at a glance nutritional pye chart is on each, I'm reminded that they only contain natural colourings and flavourings and that they are vegetarian and cooked in sunflower oil and each one has a a scribbled on drawing on the front that in most cases I can't make out what it's meant to be of lol. On the back of the packet again full nutritional information is listed along with ingredients and allergy advice, how to store them, best before date is stamped on, size is stated and finally contact for Sainsbury's are once again given.

Again simple to look at and the first thing I thought is I bet if parents shoved these in their children's lunchboxes I bet they would get bullied by nasty kids! Also I wouldn't want to be particularly seen eating them to be honest either lol. They just look so cheapskate! Also when I looked at the calories I was really impressed. Like the cheese & onion are only 80 calories a bag and then I suddenly realised that isn't good at all because if you look at a bag of standard Walkers say a bag weighs about 35g at a rough guess. Just under double this size. Now for the Walkers option a bag is around 113-133 calories, these for the same size (ish) would cost you about 186 calories and a whopping 7.2 saturated fat! Healthy? Me don't think so! So the bags are small and the calories...rather high in my view.

The Crisps.

Ready Salted....

A real favourite all time flavour of mine so I had a bag of these first. I opened them up to be greeted by slightly oily but golden crisps that were well formed, not burnt with a slight potato aroma to them. Crunchy enough, smooth in texture, quite salty the only think that let them down is they weren't all that thick and really not all that salty either. However the flavour was identifiable but good quality? Well not really. Although they are not foul tasting they're just nothing special and not at all filling really but passable just not something I would look forward to eating or anything!

Calories 88
Fat 25.3g
Saturated Fat 3.9g

Salt & Vinegar.

Odd vinegar smell but really lacking in any flavour apart from salt. I could smell acidy vinegar but not really taste any just a tiny twang of it. The salt was rather overpowering, the crisp was greasy and not all that crunchy and I was left with an odd tinny after-taste it took me ages to shift from my mouth. Not at all keen on these and although salty rather bland and oddly... not really tasting of potato either!

Calories 84
Fat 22.7g
Saturated Fat 4.1g

Cheese & Onion....

Bland bland bland bland bland!!!!!!! Not that cheesy though smell was apparent these really plain light coloured whitish crisps were quite greasy, not at all potatoey flavoured at all and just all round lacked flavoured totally. So bored I got with them I shoved them between some bread and butter and they lost flavour altogether! I could 'taste' the crunch it gave to my bread if that makes sense but that's it. They may of well of simply been plain crisps. I thought they were really odd and if I was blindfolded and someone shoved one in my mouth sure I'd know it was a crisp but not the flavour!

Overall....

You can't beat good quality crisps in my view and these, I'm not a fan of at all. They are bland and I don't mind consuming a high amount of calories from time to time if I enjoy something but these are not (as my Mum says often lol).. worth putting weight on for! Pringles in a cupboard could call me and get my attention and I'd pop them open and not stop munching them till I had them gone. These will stay in my cupboard for ages because the quality isn't there for me at all. I don't mind the plain crisps in this variety pack but I'd soon lose the will to live with these real boring and plain offerings! Spend a little more and get better crisps is my best advice to you. Really your only getting the equivalent of 6 bags anyway and making a saving of around 30p or something (in comparison to getting 6 bags of Walkers!!).

Summary: Never again will I insult my tastebuds with these!