I discoved these in Japan when I was looking for a cheesy snack. The image on the packaging looks pretty similar to a snack we have in Australia called Twisties. The pack contains 96 grams for 108 yen (about $1.10).
Scorn are primarily made from corn, vegetable oil, cheese powder, buttermilk powder, table salt, whey powder, amino acid, paprika, stevia, wheat, and soy bean flour. I'm surprised that stevia (a sweetener) is so low on the list because these are so sweet!
When you open the package you immediately get a whiff of sweetness with a kind of cheddar cheese smell. The cheese is quite a strong smell but there is alot of sweetness which overpowers the first scent.
Unlike Western "cheese flavour" snacks, these are more sweet than savoury. They are the same light yellow in colour and twisted corn in appearance, except that somehow these taste more like candy than a snack to go with beer.
There is some saltiness in there if you lick the twisted corn. Underneath the first taste of sweetness is the salt, then a light almost cheddar cheese flavour. Even the sweetness is kind of a let-down because it is through sweeteners not through real sugar, so the depth of the sugar flavour is vague and feels like something is missing.
Also unlike Western-style cheese snacks, there is no orange powder that comes off these onto your fingers. That to me, is one of the best parts of eating Cheetos or Twisties because you then have to go back and lick all that delicious powder off your fingers, so it's kind of like having double the amount! Here there is nary a spec of powder on your fingers, only a few crumbs from the actual twists themselves, but much less satisfying.
These don't leave me wanting more, they leave me wanting a drink! There is an aftertaste, the stevia no doubt, that makes me so thirsty I could drink the well dry. It's kind of the same as having an icecream or a milkshake on a really hot day.
By the way, I'm not sure why these are called Scorn. I can only imagine it's the feelings of Westerners like me who think they are getting a savoury snack only to find themselves drinking down bucketloads of water afterwards.
I won't be buying these again. Try at your own risk - make sure you have a drink handy.
