Takis (snack)
Takis are a Mexican brand of rolled corn tortilla chip snack made by Barcel, a subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo. Fashioned after the taquito, it comes in numerous flavors,[1] the best selling of which is the chili-lime "Fuego" flavor, sold in distinctive purple bags. Besides the rolled corn chips, Takis also produces a number of other snacks with the same flavor lines, including a number of different potato chip varieties, corn stix, popcorn, and peanuts.
Product type | Tortilla chip |
---|---|
Owner | Barcel (subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo) |
Country | Mexico |
Introduced | 1999 |
Markets | Mexico, Canada and the United States |
Tagline | Face The Intensity Are you Takis enough? |
Website | https://barcel-usa.com/takis |
Takis were invented in Mexico in 1999 and introduced to the United States in 2004 and Canada in 2015. Barcel originally intended to aim Takis towards the Hispanic demographic of the snack market, but its popularity has quickly spread among teens of different cultural backgrounds.[2][3]
Flavors
Takis are prepared in a variety of flavors, including:
- Angry Burger, a spicy hamburger and dill pickle flavor (green packaging)[4]
- Authentic Taco, a hot taco flavor (green packaging)
- BBQ Picante, a spicy barbecue flavor (brown packaging)
- Blue Flame, an extreme barbecue flavor (blue packaging)
- Blue Heat, a hot chili pepper flavor (blue packaging)
- Cobra (red packaging)
- Crunchy Fajitas, a chicken fajita flavor with a yellowish appearance (green packaging)
- Dragon Sweet Chili, a sweet and spicy flavor with a dull red-orange appearance (black packaging)
- Fuego, a hot chili pepper and lime flavor. It is the spiciest of all varieties, as well as the most popular flavor (purple packaging).
- Fuego azul, a spicy snack topped with a blue mystery spice powder, with a similar taste to Fuego. This flavor was released in the U.S. in 2019 as Blue Heat (blue packaging).[5]
- Guacamole, a spicy snack topped with a style of salsa guacamole (white packaging)
- Intense Nacho, a non-spicy cheese flavor and the first ever non-spicy flavor of Takis (orange packaging)
- Kaboom, a ketchup and sriracha flavour (purple, red and white packaging)
- Lava, a cheese and chipotle flavor (orange packaging)[4]
- Ninja Teriyaki, a spicy teriyaki flavor
- Nitro, a habanero chili flavor (black-red packaging)
- Original, a slightly spicy snack (green packaging)
- Outlaw, a spicy barbecue flavor (dark red packaging)
- Party, a flavor of cheese and chile
- Rock, a presentation with flavor of chorizo
- Sal De Mar (formerly "Classic"), a mild snack topped with sea salt
- Salsa Brava, a slightly spicier snack than the original (yellow packaging)
- Scorpion BBQ, a barbecue flavor (brown and purple packaging)[6]
- Titan, a chipotle and lime flavor (dark red packaging)[4]
- Volcano Queso, a habanero cheese flavor (yellow-green and orange packaging)[6]
- Wild, a hot buffalo flavor (sky blue packaging)[4]
- Xplosion, a spicy cheese-flavored and chili pepper variety (orange packaging)
- Xtra Hot, a hot flavor similar to Fuego, but less spicy (black-purple packaging)
- Zombie, habanero and cucumber flavor (black-green packaging)
Other products
In July 2020, Razor released their scooter designed with the Takis brand.[7] Also in that month, Totino's released Totino's Takis Fuego Mini Snack Bites, consisting of pizza snack rolls covered in Takis Fuego seasoning.[8] In October 2020, Takis introduced Takis Hot Nuts, featuring peanuts in a crunchy shell coated with Takis seasoning. Its flavors include Fuego, Flare and Smokin' Lime.[9] In 2021, Grupo Bimbo expanded the Takis snack portfolio to include:
- Takis Waves, ridged potato chip[10]
- Takis Watz, cheese snack[10]
- Takis POP!, ready-to-eat popcorn[10]
- Takis Stix, corn snack stick[10]
- Takis Crisps, potato chip shaped like Pringles[11]
- Takis Kettlez, kettle-cooked potato chip snack
- Takis Hot Nuts, peanuts coated in crunchy corn snack
- Takis Chippz, thin-cut potato chips
Health concerns
There have been multiple claims on the Internet that Takis and other spicy snacks cause ulcers and cancer. Though the aforementioned claims have been confirmed as false, scientists and doctors have attributed gastritis and other stomach-related problems to Takis, though this has only been recorded to occur when ingesting too much of the snack.[12] Chronic gastritis can cause ulcers and stomach cancer.[13]
References
- Esparza, Bill (2020-09-17). "The Ultimate Guide to Mexican Snacks". Eater. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- "Takis". Snack History. Archived from the original on 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Kiely, John (2013-10-08). "Rise of the Takis". Houston Press. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Tansill-Suddath, Callie (July 26, 2018). "The Takis Flavor Challenge Expands With 4 New Limited Edition Flavors, Including A Dill Pickle One". Bustle. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Dubois, Megan; May 28, 2021 (2021-05-28). "The Most Popular Chips You Need to Try". Eat This Not That. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Morillo, Alexis (2020-06-30). "Takis Has 2 New Limited Edition Flavors That Change Color With Every Bite". Delish. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Nelson, Dustin (July 19, 2020). "Razor Now Has Scooters That Look Like Sriracha, AriZona Tea & Takis". Thrillist. Archived from the original on 2021-08-08. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
- Chan, Daffany (August 2, 2020). "Totino's Released Takis Fuego Mini Snack Bites That Are Like Spicy Pizza Rolls". Elite Daily. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- Schouten, Rebecca (October 8, 2020). "Takis unveils new spicy snack nuts". Food Business News.
- Schroeder, Eric (May 21, 2021). "Bimbo bringing Takis to five new snack categories". Food Business News. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- Lawler, Opheli Garcia (October 13, 2021). "There's a New Way to Eat Takis". Thrillist. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- Cox, Chelsey (May 31, 2020). "Fact check: Spicy snacks, such as Takis and hot Cheetos, won't cause ulcers in children". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- "Gastritis". Mayo Clinic. March 15, 2022. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2023.