Wendyl Wants To Know: Take close look at packaging

Bluebird MAXX Beer Battered Onion Rings - $3.99 per 200g

Read the small print and discover that a potato chip by any other name is still a potato chip, whatever the packet says

While shopping for supplies for our New Year's Eve party, I found this very appetising "man sized" offering. I love a good beer battered onion ring, and wouldn't these make a nice change from boring old potato chips?

I looked quickly at the ingredients and saw no artificial colours or preservatives, so I popped them into the trolley.

I discovered later that my beer battered onion rings, were not beer battered onion rings at all.

Ingredients

• Potatoes - At the top of the ingredients list, so this tells us that the biggest ingredient in these onion rings is potatoes. Don't bother scanning down for onions as an ingredient because you won't find them.

• Vegetable oil - Not sure what vegetable oil, but a standard ingredient for a snack like this.

• Whey powder (milk) - This is what is left over in milk when you take the curds out to make cheese. Could be in here to provide some protein or for flavour.

• Onion powder - Ah ... there may not be any onions but there is onion flavour.

• Salt - Quite a high salt count here at 163mg of sodium a serve, which is about 12 chips.

• Sugar - Not a lot of sugar, so this will be in here for flavour.

• Flavour enhancer (621) - This is MSG or monosodium glutamate which can cause allergic reactions such as headaches, numbness, nausea and asthma. Some people must avoid this additive.

• Skim milk powder - This is dried milk, possibly in here as a flavour or perhaps a coating.

• Flavours - This is where I think you will find the artificial flavour for beer batter. The package does not make any claims for no artificial flavourings so we can be confident that there are some. And as I don't see the word "beer" anywhere on the package except in the name, I presume the beer batter is false.

• Spices - Paprika, black pepper.Butter oil (milk)Butter oil? I had no idea this existed, but apparently it does and it is extracted from milk.

• Garlic powder - This will be in here for flavouring.

• Natural colour (paprika extract) - Nice to see a natural colour used to achieve the orange colour.

• Food acid (citric acid) - This is a natural product often used as a preservative.

My recommendations

If you want beer battered onion rings, then go find some - but they're certainly not in this packet. In large type on the packet it says "beer battered onion rings". Slipped in under the label in smaller type are the two words "potato chips", which is what these are.

On the back of the packet they do a slightly better job of explaining by saying they are "flavoured potato chips". Which is exactly what they taste like. There's not a lot of onion flavour, and they're not even shaped like onion rings.

Highlights

• Not onion rings, not beer battered - just potato chips.
• No onion or beer in the ingredients list, apart from onion flavour.
• Uses natural colour but artificial flavours.