Mcvitie’s reignites Jaffa Cake row with biscuit museum cease and desist
The long-running debate over whether a Jaffa Cake is a biscuit or a cake has boiled over once again, after McVitie’s asked a south London museum to remove the popular treat from its biscuit-themed exhibition.
The biscuit giant asked the Peek Frean Museum in Bermondsey, which celebrates Britain’s biscuit-making heritage, to take down a display which maintains that Jaffa Cakes are “firmly cakes” for tax purposes, reported The Guardian, a fact established in a landmark 1991 VAT tribunal.
In a tongue-in-cheek letter, the manufacturer urged the museum to “immediately remove Jaffa Cakes from your biscuit exhibit”, adding: “We write to you today, not with crumbs of animosity, but with a full slice of firm objection.”
Museum curator Gary Magold confirmed the display had been pulled “for the moment” and said he hoped a resolution could be reached with McVitie’s. “It’s a shame,” he said.
The clash has stirred up nostalgic memories of the infamous 1991 VAT case, when McVitie’s successfully argued that Jaffa Cakes were cakes, which are zero-rated, and not chocolate-covered biscuits, which are taxed at 20%.
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The long-running debate over whether a Jaffa Cake is a biscuit or a cake has boiled over once again, after McVitie’s asked a south London museum to remove the popular treat from its biscuit-themed exhibition.
It is understood the decision was based on how the product behaved when stale as cakes go hard, while biscuits go soft. The ruling has since become legendary among food law observers and shoppers alike.
This latest debate about the VAT status of a product comes amid high street retailer M&S also recently landing itself in a sticky situation over the categorisation of its new strawberries and cream sandwich.
Priced at £2.80 and featured in the retailer’s meal deal offer, experts have debate online whether the sweet treat should be zero-rated like a traditional sandwich or subject to 20% VAT.
Earlier this week, fellow supermarket Aldi took a playful swipe at the new viral sensation with the ‘launch’ of their own sandwich, Carrots and Cream.
