Craic On

Jaffa Cakes

I found this while surfing the internet. I was searching as I told my son that I remember Jaffa Cakes coming out.

However, a swift check of the internet on Wikipedia showed that they came out in the UK in 1927 – a year before my parents were born.

However, I discovered this story about them:-

Legal Action on Jaffa Cakes

In the United Kingdom, VAT is payable on chocolate-covered biscuits, but not on chocolate-covered cakes. McVities defended its classification of Jaffa Cakes as cakes at a VAT tribunal in 1991, against the ruling that Jaffa Cakes were biscuits due to their size and shape, and the fact that they were often eaten in place of biscuits.

McVities insisted that the product was a cake, and according to rumour produced a giant Jaffa Cake in court to illustrate its point. The product was assessed on the following criteria:-

• The product’s name was regarded as a minor consideration.
• The ingredients were regarded as similar to those of a cake, producing a thin cake-like batter rather than the thick dough of a biscuit.
• The product’s texture was regarded as being that of a sponge cake.
• The product hardens when stale, in the manner of a cake.
• A substantial part of the Jaffa Cake, in terms of bulk and texture, is sponge.
• In size, the Jaffa Cake is more like a biscuit than a cake.
• The product was generally displayed for sale alongside other biscuits, rather than with cakes.
• The product is presented as a snack and eaten with the fingers, like a biscuit, rather than with a fork as a cake might be. The tribunal also considered that children would eat them in “a few mouthfuls”, in the manner of a sweet.

The court found in favour of McVities and ruled that the product should be considered a cake, meaning that VAT is not paid on Jaffa Cakes in the United Kingdom.

So, here you are now!

Rangers Fans

I remember a number of years ago that Glasgow Rangers had their first ever black player. Walters his name was but I can’t remember his first name.

I was in the Lounge at Euston station in London and there was a number of very loud and very, very merry Rangers fans in there waiting for their train back to Scotland.

I was keeping a weather eye on them, in case it got raucous, so I heard their conversation.

Walters was doing well for the team.

I heard one of the Rangers fans describing Walters as a Jaffa Cake – Black on the outside and Orange on the inside.