WALKERS JUST MADE A BIG CHANGE TO ICONIC CRISP RECIPE — AND LAUNCHED 3 NEW FLAVOURS

Walkers has just launched a new range of some of their most popular crisps, with three new flavours, but there’s a catch.

The new crisps have a very different recipe from the regular ones, intended to be ‘healthier’ as they are classified as non-HFSS, meaning they are not high in fat, salt, or sugar.

The range features Wotsits and Monster Munch which have been made with chickpeas, meaning they are less than 100 calories, 25% lower in salt than the average, and a source of fibre.

Shoppers can now get their hands on the chickpea snacks which include Cheese Toastie flavoured Wotsits, Crispy Bacon Wotsits, and BBQ Sauce Monster Munch.

Walkers says it has spent years ‘testing and refining’ the recipe to create the ‘light and airy puffed snacks’ which are available in sharing bags and multi-packs from UK supermarkets.

The sharing bags have been spotted in Morrisons for £1.65, while multi-packs of six are being sold for £2 in the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Since launching, the crisps have received mixed reviews online with some people loving the new snacks and others not so sure.

On Facebook, Paulla Croydon admitted she was ‘not convinced’ by any of the new flavours, as Michael Teacy claimed they were ‘absolutely vile’. Meanwhile, Mark Lee was concerned the brand was ‘ruining something popular’.

But others were big fans, and weren’t bothered by the recipe change. Nic Roberts wrote: ‘I couldn’t taste the difference. I didn’t know they even had chickpeas until after eating some bags, and I thought the bacon ones were great.’

And Tracy Dickson enjoyed the new snack, commenting: ‘I like them, def not the same texture but the BBQ Monster Munch very tasty. I personally prefer them.’

Similarly, on Instagram @rickymac85 thought the new Wotsits were ‘banging’, as @0malloy3 added: ‘I’ve tried the BBQ Monster Munch crisp today and they are well nice.’

Karen Scott, head of portfolio transformation, PepsiCo, which owns Walkers, said: ‘We’re always looking for new ways to bring people a greater variety of products that include diverse ingredients while maintaining the trademark taste and quality Walkers is known for.

‘After years of continuously evolving our portfolio and working closely with our R&D teams, we’re excited to be launching our first chickpea-based product with three brand-new flavours of our popular Wotsits and Monster Munch classics. We can’t wait to hear the feedback from consumers.’

This launch comes hot off the heels of another big recipe change, one which sparked outrage with 90s kids.

Nestlé recently tweaked the recipe for its beloved Nesquik milkshake powder. The company removed maltodextrin, a highly processed white powder made from corn, rice, potato starch, or wheat.

In its place, they added rice flour which some say left an unpleasant ‘sludge’ in their drink.

But fans were unhappy with the change, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share complaints. One called it ‘horrible’, another said it was like ‘sludge’, while others felt the drink had been ‘ruined’.

Nestlé is aware the ingredient swap has ‘not been popular’ with customers and has apologised in a statement.

A spokesperson for Nestlé told Metro.co.uk: ‘Our aim is always to have the best possible recipe on the market and we sometimes make changes that aim to improve on existing recipes. 

‘On this occasion the change has not been popular with consumers and we have listened to their feedback.’

They went on to confirm that they would be reversing the change soon, adding: ‘We can confirm the old recipe is going back into production and it should be in stores in July. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.’

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2024-07-04T15:29:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd