Kallo Organic Rice Cakes Review: Tastes like caviar when you are hungry

In the short-time this website has been running there have been a lot of sugary food reviews. This needs to change and no this is not a New Years resolution which I hate the idea of. I just want to review more healthy products and therefore this post we will be looking at Kallo Organic Rice Cakes. The perfect healthy snack food which doesn’t taste of anything but when you are hungry it tastes like caviar…I have never had caviar by the way.

Towards the end of November I realised I really needed to make some drastic changes to my diet. Now I had lots of these ‘realisations’ for probably couple of years but this time it was a little different. I didn’t think about all the vegetable meals I am going to have or ensuring the batteries still work on my bike machine. This time I was going to stop having sugar for 30 days to see if it maked a postive difference. I actually watched a YouTube video of a guy quitting sugar because he was getting a dad gut. 

I felt like this resonated with me so I also took the challenge. This meant no biscuits with tea or coffee. No more chocolate chip brioche buns in the morning and granola bars at lunch. No more chocolate treats at work which there was an abundance of during December. No more ‘I deserve some ice cream for all the hard work I did today’ even though it was a day no different to any other. 

So without any ‘treats’ to look forward to, I had to find substitute’s which is more of a challenge. I looked at obvious things like fruits, but also crackers and breadsticks which I would have plain. I actually used to play cricket at a County level and one point was heavily focused on health. I could submit myself to snacking on plain foods but that was a long time ago. So I started adding things like dates and raisins to ensure some good sugar was helping with any cravings . One of the things that I knew I wanted to include in my snacking time was Kallo Organic Rice Cakes.

Kallo Organic Rice Cakes basically look like Snack-O-Jacks but a lot more healthier. The wholegrain version has only 2 ingredients, 98.2% wholegrain rice and 1.8% of sea salt. There is no sugar or any sort of fats and one rice cake is about 25 calories. It also tastes of nothing. These cakes have become a little running joke in my office because when I hear people say they are hungry I would offer one to them. I even dared a colleague to have one but he must finished it off. He had a bite and then walked off confused holding a rice cake apparently for a long time from what someone told me. 

To describe the taste is hard because as I have said it’s not much to describe. Someone critical would say it tastes like luxurous cardbord with some crunch. However, when you have been determined not to have sugary treats, these rice cakes start tasting good. I really like the crunchy texture with that little bit of salt for flavouring. These are great to have around my desk and I have started having less crisps. The best thing is I have no guilt in how many I have and I counter the dry taste with some water.

Now you don’t have to have these plain, I am just hardcore like that. They suggest these go well with things like soup or with tomatoes or peppers. I would like to try some a bit more fancier and might become a substitute to sandwiches. However, all that takes a lot of work and at the moment I am just combating avoiding sugar and this has definately helped. 

Another thing I like about these rice cakes is that you get a lot in a pack. Around 20 large-sized discs which generally lasts me a week at work. I don’t always have lots in a day, just when I really want too or feel like snacking. A single pack costs around £1.29 (£1 when on offer) which is really good considering it’s last for some time (Oh quiting sugar saves you money too). These don’t go stale quick either, I generally cover it up and turn it upside down so it’s not exposed and towards the end of the week it’s still okay. However, if you do leave it exposed then it will definately taste like cardbord and not the luxurous kind. 

There are other flavoured Kallo rice cake products although I have only tried two. Firstly, the Kallo Corn Cakes which I like for the corn and slightly buttery flavouring. There is also the Sea Salt & Balsamic Rice & Corn Cake version. My impression on this was slightly mixed. It has a real intense flavour and it’s not subtle like the other two I had. But I don’t really crave having it and never had more than two at a time. I just need to be in the right mood to have this one. They have a lot more other flavoured ones (see the list here) which I would like to get around to trying and possibly reviewing. 

On a side note, I am really proud to say that avoiding sugar has had great postive effect on my body and health. My dad gut is now manageable and I haven’t done any exercise yet. My chest area is also looking a lot leaner which is an area that can add a lot of fat with a bad diet. I think my metabolism has gotten better to. I had a homemade burger over the weekend. Surprisingly, I did not get any food coma and felt pretty good the rest of the evening. I did read if you stick to such a diet then it’s okay to have a treat once in a while like getting a dessert when out for dinner. I am going to be looking to do more exercises now and trying to cut out crisps too. I will give you a progress report down the line. In the meantime, why not cut out some sugar, try Kallo Rice Cakes and see if you feel better.