You've been eating Jaffa Cakes wrong for years as grocery expert confirms right way

The age-old debate of whether a Jaffa Cake is a cake or a biscuit has been ongoing for years. But a new and possibly more controversial revelation has surfaced - and it's all to do with how you hold it.

The Jaffa Cake's legal classification as a "cake" was proven in a 1991 court case to avoid a UK tax on biscuits. McVitie's successfully argued that the product has the properties of a cake, which hardens when stale, rather than a biscuit, which softens. But what people haven't already realised is that the brand also famously confirmed that the chocolate is actually on the bottom.

Richard Price, a grocery expert at Brit Superstore, has lifted the lid on this blunder that many of us will probably be guilty of doing.

He said: "It's a very British dilemma. We've all been holding it upside down all along. Naturally, we see the chocolate and assume it goes on top, but the official way is actually to eat it with the sponge side up. The chocolate is meant to be the base, not the topping."

This was echoed by the manufacturers themselves, McVitie's. According to the pros, the Jaffa Cake passes through a "reservoir of chocolate" on the production line, which means the chocolate is officially the base.

This means the correct way to eat it is with the sponge side facing down, so the chocolate hits your tongue first.

"For years, people have debated their own complex methods, from nibbling the edges off to eating the jelly first," Richard said. "But McVitie's has now made it official."

Although the cake vs biscuit debate was settled long ago, it's always being stirred up again - most recently by American TikToker Elizabeth Walker, who recently moved over to the UK and was baffled by the Jaffa Cakes she saw on shop shelves.

In a video, she said: "Protected my peace so hard I moved to another country and now drink hot tea in 40C weather (sometimes I'll put the milk in first) but am really confused as to why Jaffa Cakes are called cakes and not biscuits."

Thousands of commenters shared their thoughts, with one writing: "For tax reasons mostly! And they are cakey on the bottom." Another person commented: "Anyone that tells you Jaffa Cakes are biscuits want to see you fail. They're literally made with sponge cake."

And a third wrote: "When stale, biscuits go soft and cakes go hard. It was a legal case that Jaffa won with that argument to keep the name cake."