Is PUFF'D double cheese Keto?

The Ingredient Breakdown

As a food scientist, looking at the label for PUFF'D double cheese, the first red flag for a Keto dieter appears immediately in the base of the snack. The primary ingredient is degerminated yellow corn meal. Corn is a high-starch vegetable, and corn meal is essentially a refined carbohydrate. It provides the bulk of the puff, but it also delivers a significant load of net carbohydrates that are incompatible with ketosis.

The second major issue lies in the flavoring agents. The ingredient list includes corn syrup solids and sugar. These are concentrated sweeteners. Even in small amounts, pure sugar is a hard stop for the Keto diet, which generally limits net carbs to under 20-50 grams per day. The inclusion of these ingredients indicates the product is designed to balance the savory cheese with a sweet finish, a combination that is disastrous for maintaining ketosis.

Finally, we have to look at the oils and additives. The product uses a blend of vegetable oils (soybean, canola, corn). While high in fat, these are often highly processed seed oils. While Keto focuses on fat, many practitioners prefer unprocessed fats like avocado oil or olive oil. Furthermore, the presence of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and yeast extract suggests a heavy reliance on artificial flavor enhancers to make the corn and sugar base palatable.

Nutritional Value

From a nutritional standpoint, PUFF'D double cheese is a calorie-dense snack with a poor macronutrient ratio for the ketogenic diet. While it likely contains a moderate amount of fat (derived from the vegetable oils and cheese), the carbohydrate content is too high relative to the serving size.

The presence of sugar and corn syrup solids ensures a high glycemic impact. For a Keto diet, the goal is to keep blood sugar stable to avoid insulin spikes. This snack does the opposite. Even if the total grams of carbs per bag seem manageable, the source of those carbs (corn and sugar) is what matters. You would likely consume your entire daily carb allowance in just one serving of this snack, leaving no room for nutrient-dense vegetables or other foods.