| Hard on the heels of McVities indulgent Belgian Choc Moments range comes a range of biscuits designed to tick as many of the healthy boxes that can sensibly be put against a packet of biscuits. So we wanted to find out if one can indulge one's fruity side and still feel good about it. McVities have even gone as far as saying the new biscuits are 'crammed full of goodness', and a little goodness never did anybody any harm did it?
The first hurdle to cross is which ones to go for? Sweet Cranberry & Almond, Succulent Sultana & Hazelnut, Juicy Blueberry & Oat or Sun-drenched Apricot & Honey. Can you see a pattern here? Dubious adjective followed by reasonable name. No doubt the blueberries at some point in their history were juicy but with the best will in the world after they have been dried then crammed or even gently placed in a biscuit and baked in a hot oven juicy is not that pertinent. Anyhow we picked up a packet of each just to make sure we weren't missing a trick.
Now I can't stress how important it is to bear in mind that McVities have set out to create biscuits that appeal to people who are choosing healthier options, a huge growth area in the industry. My point about the tick boxes is born out by the four points along the bottom face of the pack each proceeded by a tick - Contains 40% wholegrains - A good source of fibre - No artificial colours or flavours - No hydrogenated vegetable oil. Back at the beginning of August McVities parent company United Biscuits announced that they had now removed hydrogenated fat from all of their products which includes their cakes and snacks as well as biscuits, so well done UB. They might have also added to their tick list something about the sodium levels which are also impressively low, and another thing McVities have steadily been reducing across their range.
Of course all this change doesn't go unnoticed and some people have struggled with the changing textures and tastes. So it's all a lot easier to do when you have a blank canvas and are creating a new biscuit from scratch rather than tinkering with an old faithful. Its quite another thing to create a engaging personality for such a new product when it has been tailored to some sort of corporate brief on expanding market segments and opportunities, hence the aforementioned adjectives.
So how does all of this goodness taste? Well I'm sure if one was to eat these regularly then one would get used to them, but to the unsuspecting palette its going to be quite a shock. The fruit certainly makes itself known with big chewy pieces of it generously provided in all four varieties. The flavours are all present and correct too. But perhaps the most noticeable healthy feature is the sugar content which has stepped to one side to allow more of those whole grains to be crammed in. Thus the biscuits are not that sweet and the texture is soft and crumbly rather than hard and crunchy. All in all it's like a soft mealy semi-sweet shortbread with bits and pieces of fruit in.
You would do well to mentally prepare yourself prior to tucking for the first time. When we compared the nitty gritty figures against McVities Digestives then it turned out that they were broadly similar in terms of calories, fat content with the Fruitsters having less sodium and more fibre. Watch out for wholegrains and fat, as in a lot of whole-meal breads the recipes use quite a bit of it. So I don't think you can swap your celery sticks for a pack of these quite yet, although you should find them more filling than a digestive.
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