Shoppers planning one snack portion
If you intend to eat one bag at a time, compare its stated calories and weight. Walkers UK lists 96 kcal for a 22g Oven Baked Sea Salt pack and 130 kcal for a 25g Ready Salted pack.
Who is this for?
Pack size, crisp type and dietary requirements can each change what belongs in a weekly shop.
Households choosing between multipacks and sharing bags
Individual bags make the amount taken easier to identify. With a sharing bag, decide how much will go into a serving and use the per-100g figure to compare products.
Shoppers checking dietary suitability
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergen information answers a different question from calorie content. Check the exact flavour and pack for every requirement that matters to your household.
What should you check?
Start with the portion you are likely to eat, then use the same-weight nutrition figures to compare different products.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Portion size | Read the bag weight and kcal per bag. For a sharing bag, check the nutrition declaration against the amount you intend to serve. | I want to know what one snack portion adds up to, rather than comparing two differently sized bags by their front-of-pack numbers alone. |
| Calories per 100g | Compare kcal per 100g on the same basis as kcal per pack. Walkers UK lists 438 kcal per 100g for Oven Baked Sea Salt and 518 kcal per 100g for Ready Salted. | A smaller bag may suit my portion plan, but I also want to know whether the product itself differs in energy density. |
| Crisp type | Check whether the snack is a potato crisp or a different format. Seabrook describes its Salt & Vinegar Fries as baked maize sticks; Tyrrells describes its lentil crisps as lentil-based. | Am I happy to choose a different sort of snack, or do I specifically want potato crisps? |
| Labels and ingredients | Compare fat, saturates, sugars and salt where shown, and read the ingredients and allergen statement for the exact flavour. UK government label guidance explains how traffic-light information can help with comparisons. | I need to check more than calories. In the Food Standards Agency and Ipsos Northern Ireland’s 2024 survey of 611 Northern Ireland respondents, 49% said they actively used traffic-light labelling when shopping for food. |
What can skew the comparison?
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Taking a smaller bag to mean a low-energy product
Walkers UK lists Oven Baked Sea Salt at 96 kcal per 22g pack, but also at 438 kcal per 100g. The two figures answer different questions: how much is in that pack and how much is in a consistent weight of the product.
Use kcal per pack for your intended portion and kcal per 100g when comparing it with another crisp or snack.
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Treating reduced fat as a calorie or ingredient comparison
Tyrrells says its lentil crisps contain 30% less fat than standard potato crisps on average and lists 140–141 kcal per 30g serving. They are lentil-based, so they are not a like-for-like potato-crisp choice.
Read the calories, serving weight and ingredients for the flavour you are considering before switching snack type.
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Using dietary labels as a shortcut for calories
Gluten-free or vegetarian suitability does not describe energy content. Pipers lists Anglesey Sea Salt crisps as gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans, alongside a value of 532 kcal per 100g.
Confirm dietary suitability first, then make a separate nutrition comparison on the exact pack.
Brand and product-line reference points
These named products show why a brand or snack label alone cannot settle a calorie comparison.
Walkers
Walkers lists both Oven Baked Sea Salt and conventional Ready Salted crisps in individual-pack sizes.
- Oven Baked Sea Salt: 96 kcal per 22g pack and 438 kcal per 100g, according to Walkers UK.
- Ready Salted is a different product and portion: Walkers UK lists 130 kcal per 25g pack and 518 kcal per 100g.
Tyrrells
Tyrrells Lentil Crisps provide an alternative for shoppers willing to choose a non-potato snack.
- Tyrrells lists 140–141 kcal per 30g serving for its lentil crisps.
- The brand’s reduced-fat comparison concerns fat, not calories, and lentil crisps are not potato crisps.
KETTLE Chips
KETTLE Sour Cream & Sweet Onion is a hand-cooked potato-crisp option to assess by its own nutrition label.
- KETTLE lists 507 kcal and 29.2g fat per 100g for this flavour.
- It is listed as gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians, but those descriptions do not indicate fewer calories.
Seabrook
Seabrook’s potato crisps and baked maize sticks need to be compared as different snack types.
- Seabrook lists 164 kcal per 31.8g bag and 516 kcal per 100g for Sea Salted potato crisps.
- Its Salt & Vinegar Fries are baked maize sticks, despite their separate 75 kcal per 16g bag figure.
Pipers
Pipers Anglesey Sea Salt is a conventional potato-crisp reference for shoppers also checking dietary suitability.
- Pipers lists this flavour as gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
- Pipers lists 532 kcal per 100g for Anglesey Sea Salt; its dietary labels are not calorie claims.
REAL Hand Cooked Crisps
REAL Sea Salt offers a potato-crisp example with both individual and sharing-bag sizes listed by the brand.
- REAL lists 35g and 150g sizes for Sea Salt and gives a nutrition value of 515 kcal per 100g.
- Choose the bag size with your intended portion in mind; the per-100g figure is not the calorie count for either whole bag.
Joybuy multipacks for portion planning
These Joybuy options are multipacks of potato crisps or potato-based snacks. Their stated bag sizes help with portion planning; compare each flavour’s current nutrition and ingredients before choosing.
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PopChips Sour Cream & Onion 5 x 17g
Five 17g bags provide a defined portion for each snack occasion. Check this flavour’s kcal per bag and per 100g, as well as its ingredients, before comparing it with conventional potato crisps.
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Walkers Oven Baked Variety Pack Crisps 6 x 22g
Six 22g bags offer individual portions for a weekly shop. Check the calories, ingredients and allergens for each flavour in the variety pack rather than applying one flavour’s figures to all six bags.
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Pom-Bear Original Potato Crisps 12 x 13g
Twelve 13g bags make individual portions easy to count. The small bag size does not, by itself, establish a lower kcal-per-100g figure; check both nutrition values on the pack.
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Walkers BBQ Crisps 6 x 25g
Six 25g bags offer a portioned BBQ-flavoured option. Compare this flavour’s kcal per bag and per 100g with any baked or smaller-pack option you are considering.
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Walkers Ready Salted/Cheese & Onion 12 x 25g
Twelve 25g bags offer two flavours in individual portions. Check each flavour’s calorie and allergen information separately; a figure for Ready Salted alone does not describe the whole multipack.
Common questions
Should I compare calories per bag or per 100g?
Use both: kcal per bag describes the stated pack, while kcal per 100g lets you compare products at the same weight. Walkers UK lists Ready Salted at 130 kcal per 25g and 518 kcal per 100g; Seabrook lists Sea Salted at 164 kcal per 31.8g and 516 kcal per 100g. The similar per-100g figures do not make the differently sized bags equal portions.
Can traffic-light labels help me compare crisps?
Yes, where displayed: UK government label guidance describes traffic-light information as a way to compare nutrition information at a glance. Read the nutrition declaration and the stated serving size too, especially when comparing bags of different weights.
Are baked maize sticks or lentil crisps the same choice as potato crisps?
No. Seabrook describes its Salt & Vinegar Fries as baked maize sticks, while Tyrrells Lentil Crisps are lentil-based. Consider them if you are open to a different snack, and compare their own serving sizes and nutrition figures rather than treating them as identical potato-crisp portions.
What should I check for allergens in a variety pack?
Read the ingredients and allergen statement for each exact flavour in the pack. Do not assume that a statement for one flavour or another product from the same brand applies to the whole multipack.