USA Foods

American junk food to your doorstep

When I think of junk food and obesity, the first thing that comes to mind is the Americanism of junk and fast food. Being brought up in the 80’s and 90’s meant being exposed to American sitcoms and dramas and it’s vast use of fast food and junk food as props in many scenes. I’ve always been intrigued by the variety of American junk food, so when a colleague of mine received a box of goodies she ordered from USA Foods I was naturally curious as to what lies inside the massive box. I actually told her to hold off from opening everything so I could bring in my camera the next day, how selfish of me ? 

DPP_000172

USA Foods are a Melbourne based American confectionary specialist. Ordering from their website is easy and delivery is quite quick with a turn around time of only a few days. They could probably do with a re-design of their website as it looks quite out-dated albeit being fully functional and informative. Information is plentiful and I do believe the stock indicators are quite accurate. 

DPP_000174

Herr's Kettle Chips - Jalepeno flavour ($4.99)

DPP_000185

Specks of jalapeno flavour

The first packet I had to open was these Kettle chips. The Kettle chips we have here in Australia were the first ‘deli’ style chip I was exposed to as a kid. I remember being addicted to the honey baked ham flavour, however in the last couple of years I have remained loyal to the chilli flavour. I still love the honey baked ham flavour, but it leaves a pungent after smell on my fingers which is annoying. Things got a bit fancy with the tangy herb flavours, but they never got me hooked. I prefer my chips with basic flavours. It’s either plain, chilli or salt and vinegar for me. I like keeping it old school, just like Don Burke and his wooly jumper’s on Burkes Backyard.

On first bite, you can definately taste the jalapeno flavours. It’s not too spicy, but the flavour is strong and plentiful. It immediately screams “eat me, or I will burn you regardless”. Texture wise, it tastes the same as the Kettle chips we can find at any corner store or super market. At $4.99 these are actually pretty good value considering normal Kettle chips are in the $3.xx range these days. Gone are the days of $2 specials for Kettle chips, they are now atleast $2.99. With the introduction of Red Rock chips, they cost even more. These days, the old chip sandwhich isn’t so cheap after all.

DPP_000176

In contrast to the ‘nutritional’ content of our Kettle chips : 

2250kj / 35g (fat) / 3g (sat fat) / 50g (carbs

DPP_000173

Herr's Habanero Salsa dippers ($3.95)

Texture wise, these were very crunchy. But flavour wise, I was a bit dissapointed to find that they taste almost exactly the same as Dorito’s. It takes more than a fancy name to impress me, a self confessed and labelled chip connoisseur. Am I being a little unreleastic. Just because they come from USA, doesn’t mean they need to taste like the best chips ever ? Perhaps we make the best chips in Australia ? 

DPP_000175

DPP_000182

TGIF Potato Skins ($12.99 / 600g)

This is perhaps the biggest pack of single serve chips I have ever seen. 624.8 grams of carbs, guaranteed to make you go for a 10km jog to ensure you burn it all off. I was very excited upon opening this packet, what better combination than cheese and bacon ? Well, to tell you truth I was rather disappointed. Flavour wise, it tasted great. The cheddar and bacon flavour was very strong, tasted quite nice. But the texture of the chips was a bit ordinary as it tasted a bit like Pringles and I find Pringles to be rather over-rated. I’m not sure if I would pay $12.99 for these again, not to mention it probably took up the bulk of shipping costs.

DPP_000184

624.48 grams of weight gain assistance , definately save these for a Friday

DPP_000183

DPP_000181

Lollies

These were pretty average and tasted like the lollies I use to get at a 6 year old’s birthday party.

DPP_000179

Hersheys miniatures bag ($7.99 for 40 pieces)

DPP_000180

Everyone loves Hershey’s chocolate. When you think of Hershey’s you generally think of cookie’s and cream. But wait, there’s more! The miniature’s bag came with peanut butter, milk and dark chocolate and krackel flavour Hershey’s. My favourite was probably the peanut butter flavour, followed closely by the original milk chocolate. These minitures are definately very addictive, I could probably finish these easily in no time with a glass of ice cold milk.

DPP_000177

Twizzlers chocolate twists ($5.99 for 340g)

DPP_000178

These were surprisingly full of flavour and can be quite addictive. It was chewey, but also quite soft at the same time. I love how it says “naturally and artificially flavoured”, it’s a lose-lose situation either way. 

USA Foods allows you to feel like a kid in a Chicago apartment watching re-runs of The Simpsons after school. Their snack catalogue is huge, perhaps I’ll try my own order next time and try their peanut butter and jelly. Join me on my one way ticket to looking like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin.

USA Foods Melbourne
146 Cochranes Rd
Moorabbin, Victoria
Australia 3189
Phone: (03) 9555-0288
Fax: (03) 9532-0580
info@usafoods.com.au
Web : http://www.usafoods.com.au

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

13 Comments

  1. Jen
    December 11, 2008

    om nom nom nom! i want those jalepeno kettle chips!

    Jen’s last blog post..Waqu

  2. Arwen from Hoglet K
    December 11, 2008

    Wow, those ingredient lists make me think of Michael Pollan and his rule about not eating stuff with more than 5 ingredients (or any you can’t comprehend). If only I was responsible enough to follow the rules!

    Arwen from Hoglet K’s last blog post..Peasants Feast

  3. Reemski
    December 11, 2008

    When I was in the US a couple of years back, I ate my way through the corner store trying all the different lollies. The quality of our confectionery is so much higher than there’s! But I do have a total weakness for Junior Mints…

    Reemski’s last blog post..Bistro CBD

  4. belle
    December 11, 2008

    It’s interesting to see the brands from American TV shows. A bit pricey, though. Sugar FX shop in Sydney Central Plaza also has US and UK lollies and drinks. They should rename it to Sugar Central Plaza!

  5. frank
    December 11, 2008

    yum yum yummmmmmy!@

    thanks for dialing that sweet tooth back in earlier than i would have liked coming up to the chrissy period

  6. Lorraine E
    December 11, 2008

    Peter Griffin=great big hunk o’ spunk ;) LOL at Don Burke and his wooly jumpers. I’ve often thought to order Reese’s PB cups from there but fashion won out and the idea of not fitting into my clothes terrified me :P

    Lorraine E’s last blog post..Free Range vs Cage eggs and Boiled eggs with Vegemite Soldiers

  7. FFichiban
    December 11, 2008

    Oh wow you went to town on these chips and lollies! I really want to try the cheddar and bacon if you say the flavours were strong and tasty yumm!

    For chilli chips I prefer the Japanese ones :) and lol at Dons jumpers!

    Hee hee I am reading a book right now and it keeps going on about how poor quality Hersey’s chocolates are haha but I think they are not that bad.

    FFichiban’s last blog post..BenBry – Manly, Sydney

  8. Miss Honey
    December 11, 2008

    I’m actually not a fan of Hershey’s at all but I do have a weakness for American cereal, mainly Count Chocula, even though I’m not even a cereal oriented person. Damn that high fructose corn syrup. The dietitian within me weeps..

    Miss Honey’s last blog post..Bacon Madness

  9. Bubz
    December 11, 2008

    Howie, you should check out that place in Sydney Central Plaza (if you haven’t already)!

  10. Howard
    December 12, 2008

    Jen : They definately make me go om nom nom nom!

    Arwen/ : 5 ingredients ? I think there are about 50 in these lol

    Reemski : Really ? I guess we do have the best chocolate bar, the Caramello Koala!.

    Belle : I’ve walked past Sugar FX , I will have to give them a try!

    ffichiban : Yeah I don’t mind Hersheys, tastes like Cadbury to me. What kind of chilli chips are in Japan ? I will look out for them when I go in Feb!

    Miss Honey : The only US cereal I’ve tried is Cheerios, and it was “ok”. I think I prefer Cocoa Pops lol.

    Bubz : I’ve yet to try this place! Maybe I will, so I don’t have to order from Melb. Thanks!

    Frank : You need that sweet tooth back for all the dodgy candy canes we get at this time of year!

    Lorraine : LOL, just a few PB cups won’t hurt. Nothing a ‘detox’ won’t fix. I think I tried a detox once after a few ‘bing’ BBQ’s, it never worked,

    FFichiban : What kind of chips are in Japan ? Let me know so I can try them in Feb!

  11. billy@ATFT
    December 12, 2008

    ha! I just had a whole load of USA & UK snacks myself over the weekend! I was so happy to find there is now a shop nearby that sells just that!

    billy@ATFT’s last blog post..Shin Yokohama Raumen Museum – Yokohama, Japan

  12. FFichiban
    December 17, 2008

    Hee hee thx for the double reply :P

    Lucky mang I wanna go Japannnnn :(
    They are called Tohato Boukun Habanero Chips and they have pictures of ghost chillies on them. The chips have a lag before the spice hits you but if you just keep eating it is worth it haha. I found the silver package the spicest for me.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x548aw_18a_webcam
    lol at guys at 00:35

    FFichiban’s last blog post..Kohya – Neutral Bay, Sydney.

  13. Spencer @ Moo-Lolly-Bar
    December 3, 2010

    I love American Chocolate. Especially anything Reese’s!

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge

Author

By

We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.

Information

This article was written on 11 Dec 2008, and is filed under American.

Recent articles

Recent comments

5 friends from Sydney who don't mind having a good feed now and then. Throw in some food photography and the odd recipe and travel post and you have eatshowandtell.