We've been eating chocolate digestives wrong for 100 years, reveals McVitie's boss
24 April 2025, 22:23 | Updated: 24 April 2025, 22:32
People have been eating chocolate digestives wrong for the last 100 years, the boss of the biscuits factory where they are made has claimed.
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Anthony Coulson, general manager at McVitie's chocolate refinery and bakery in Stockport, said the biscuit was originally designed to be eaten with the chocolate side facing down.
Mr Coulson told BBC Radio Manchester: "One of the very first things I learnt when I got to join McVitie's was chocolate side down to eat the digestive."
He said the theory was "it starts to melt, you start to get the flavour and away you go", adding: "It makes sense, right?"
He revealed that until that point he had always eaten them the other way round with the chocolate facing up. He added: "You can do it exactly how you want to do it."
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The revelation has ignited the debate online with biscuit-lovers arguing over which way is the best way to consume the treat.
One person wrote on X: "An interesting comment from @McVities on the correct way to eat the Chocolate Digestive, which, is in our humble opinion, the Very Best of Biscuits. However, their claim and it is incorrect. The correct and best way is to scrape off the back with teeth and then eat the chocolate."
Another wrote: "Why am I now being told how to eat a chocolate digestive? My way is clearly the only way. Open packet, inhale contents immediately. Discard empty packet. Rest the chocolate side on your tongue? Who has time for that?"
A third said: "I can't imagine anyone eating a chocolate digestive chocolate side up. That's just wrong."
According to the McVitie’s website, the company "revolutionised" the world of biscuits when it created chocolate digestives in 1925.
McVitie's has planned a series of centenary celebrations in honour of the biscuit. Over 80 million packets are sold each year in the UK, and in 2024, more packets of McVitie’s chocolate digestives were sold than any other branded biscuit.
