It’s not often that I find a bacon-flavoured product that also claims to be “guilt-free” on the packaging but the Peckish Peckables Cheese & Bacon Rice Snacks are here for it.

As a product, they look and feel like most other rice snacks, but offer a few different shapes for the crackers, however my box looked like it had been kicked across a footy field, so most of them were broken. I’m glad I wasn’t planning to eat these with dip or other condiments.

The bacon and cheese flavour

Look, I’ll be honest with you: these taste exactly like what you’d expect from a packet of supermarket rice crackers trying to impersonate a cheese and bacon toastie. Which is to say, not terrible, but not exactly setting the world on fire either.

The cheese flavour hits first, and it’s that familiar powdery tang you get from most cheese-flavoured snacks in Australia. You know the one. It’s trying its best to remind you of actual cheese, and doing a reasonable job of it, but there’s no mistaking this for the real thing. The bacon element is more of a suggestion than a statement. It’s there in the background, waving politely, adding a vaguely smoky, salty note that makes you think “yeah, alright, I can see what they’re going for here.”

Together, they work well enough. You’re not going to confuse these with artisanal cheese and prosciutto on a charcuterie board, but for a mid-afternoon snack when you’re trying to avoid demolishing an entire bag of chips, they do the job.

The “guilt-free” claim

Now, about that “guilt-free” thing. Peckish wants you to know these crackers are 98% fat free, which sounds impressive until you remember that rice crackers are generally pretty low in fat anyway. It’s a bit like bragging that water is sugar-free, but I suppose marketing is marketing.

At 384 calories per 100g, they’re not exactly a diet food, but they’re certainly better than reaching for a packet of chips or Tim Tams. Each serving (about 20g, which is roughly a handful) clocks in at around 77 calories. Whether that makes them “guilt-free” probably depends more on your relationship with food than the actual nutritional content, but sure, let’s run with it.

The verdict

Peckish Peckables Cheese & Bacon Rice Snacks are perfectly serviceable. They’re the kind of snack you grab when you want something crunchy and savoury but don’t want to feel too bad about yourself afterwards. They’re not going to change your life or make you rethink what a rice cracker can be, but they’ll satisfy that snack craving without destroying your calorie budget for the day.

Would I buy them again? Maybe. Would I be devastated if they disappeared from supermarket shelves tomorrow? Probably not. But if you’re a fan of rice crackers and you fancy something with a bit more flavour than plain salted, these are worth a crack. Just maybe check the box isn’t too battered before you chuck it in your trolley.

Rating: 6.5/10

Available at major Australian supermarkets. RRP around $3-4 per box.