I am in love with these potato snacks. Often I grab a pack of hummus and a bag of “chippies” as my kids call them and go to town. It’s one of my all time favorite snacks and with them the “everything in moderation” generally doesn’t apply.
Today I had the privilege of meeting the CheeCha Puffs family and touring the facility where they are made. I must admit, it is an art for them, they have machines with everything perfectly timed right down to how much oil goes into one batch and they even measure how much seasoning goes on each “chip.”
They have their own machines, with their very own unique way of popping each piece so it doesn’t have to be soaked in oil. I was most impressed with CheeCha Puffs’ gluten free facility. It is completely contained so that not even particles from other machines can come into contact with them. The machines are washed at least once a day and then tested to make sure they are free of gluten contaminants. That prompted me to contemplate another completely different blog post about how some big food manufacturers are trying to play off the whole gluten free fad and make gluten free products. The issue I have with it is that these manufacturers still manufacture gluten on site, heck they probably use the same machines. So if someone was really seriously allergic to wheat, that would be an issue. I have a daughter who is affected by wheat so capitalizing on what I feel is a serious health issue is… *a whole other blog post for sure because gluten free isn’t always healthy for many reasons.
I’ve always loved the taste of CheeCha Puffs but now I’m impressed with the whole package. This is the kind of company that I feel good about buying from because they do it out of passion, they have pride in their product and I know it’s healthy. I urge you to try CheeCha Puffs, and if you like them too, ask for them when you are in one of the big chain stores. A lot of product placement is based on which supplier gives the fattest cheque for shelf space but maybe if enough people ask we will all be able to enjoy product like CheeCha Puffs more often….
Here is a link to their website, check out how many different flavours they offer: http://www.cheecha.ca/products/
I also thought it was interesting to see a pre puffed CheeCha Puff:
Such a great back story on the company; I wondered what those were in your children’s lunch! I’ll have to try them when I’m in Calgary next.