is a jaffa cake a real cake or a jaffa fake?

Answer 1

Jaffa Cake is a popular type of snack sold under a number of different brands, the market leader being McVitie's (United Biscuits). In the United Kingdom, Jaffa Cakes are classed as cakes for the purposes of taxation, but due to their size and high number per packaging, shops generally stock them within the biscuit section. The name is derived from Jaffa oranges.

McVitie's produce Jaffa Cakes in two different sizes (regular and mini) and in a number of different packaging formats (box, tube, pod and flow wrap).

Cake or biscuit?
Under UK law, no VAT is charged on biscuits and cakes — they are "zero rated". Chocolate covered biscuits, however, are classed as luxury items and are subject to VAT at 17.5%. McVitie's classed its Jaffa Cakes as cakes, but in 1991, this was challenged by HM Customs and Excise in court.[1] This may have been because Jaffa Cakes are about the same size and shape as some types of biscuit. The question which had to be answered was what criteria should be used to class something as a cake or biscuit. McVitie's defended the classification of Jaffa Cakes as a cake by producing a giant Jaffa Cake to illustrate that their Jaffa Cakes were simply mini cakes.

They also argued that the distinction between cakes and biscuits is simply that cakes go hard when stale, whereas biscuits go soft. It was demonstrated that Jaffa Cakes become hard when stale and McVitie's won the case.[2]

The issue was revisited in an article entitled 'Are Jaffa Cakes really biscuits?' published in the Journal of Unlikely Science (Volume 1, issue 7, 2005). [3] The article attempted to classify biscuits via a scientific analysis of various features (size, shape, filling etc.) and determined that the Jaffa Cake should be regarded as a biscuit, or 'pseudobiscuit'.

Answer 2

In the United Kingdom, Jaffa Cakes are classed as cakes for the purposes of taxation, but due to their size and high number per packaging, shops generally stock them within the biscuit section.

Answer 3

Jaffa's are cakes, they even made a full size cake to prove the point to the taxman because biscuits with chocolate on them are a luxury item and are taxed at a higher rate.
A cake when stale will go hard but biscuits when stale will go soft.

Answer 4

It;s been proven to be a cake. Definition of a cake is something that goes hard when stale. Definition of a biscuit is something that goes soft when stale. Therefore a jaffa cake is actually a cake!!

Answer 5

Jaffa fake I think. I'm sure they don't all use jaffa oranges for that jammy bit, especially the cheap versions. They are still yummy though.

Answer 6

It is a cake not a biscuit. The VAT man says so

Answer 7

definitely a cake, as when it goes stale, it goes hard (as cakes do). Biscuits go soft when stale, so it's not a biscuit

Answer 8

50/50

Answer 9

its a bit stale really, like a cake gone wrong...someone should tell mcvities!!