# Biscuit question for British 'Dopers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874 "2003-02-18T13:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pierre72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@pierre72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pierre72)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/1 "2003-02-18T13:46:47Z")
The reason I say British Dopers, is this is one of those “whatever happened to…” questions, and it concerns biscuits. Not the fluffy dumpling-type things you Americans serve with chicken and gravy and grits (see, I’ve been to North Carolina), but the sweet, dunk-in-one’s-(non-iced)-tea over conversations with the vicar whilst on the veranda in one’s country garden. What you refer to as (shudder) “cookies”. However, if you feel you know and can contribute, then, my American friends, please do. So my question is this: Whatever happened to Orange Creams? Simple as that. Up until a couple of years ago, you could walk into Tesco’s and pick up a packet of two shortbread biscuits sandwiched together by a filling of orange (-flavoured) cream. And now they’re nowhere to be found. Why? Is it market forces? The fact that nobody (other than me) seemed to buy them? Or was it discovered that they are actually full of tartrazine and are sending our kids hyperactive? Or was a major ingredient in the orange flavouring mercury and it was slowly poisoning us, so they were quietly withdrawn from sale. Whichever way, I think we should be told. Right, I’m off for a Chocolate Digestive (plain).😃 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/2 "2003-02-18T13:57:45Z")
Can’t say I’ve noticed, but I’ll be popping into the Co-op on the way home, so I’ll check out the situation vis-a-vis orange creams and get back to you tomorrow. Or perhaps this evening if my broadband’s been installed as promised. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/3 "2003-02-18T14:00:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pierre72 \* > **. . . Up until a couple of years ago, you could walk into Tesco’s and pick up a packet of two shortbread biscuits sandwiched together by a filling of orange (-flavoured) cream. And now they’re nowhere to be found.** As you surmise, there was no orange involved. Nor was there any cream. Nor, indeed, any shortbread. I don’t know what happened to them, but the fact that they tasted disgusting beyond description may have had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/4 "2003-02-18T14:05:33Z")
Well, I’m not a Brit, but I offer this from my perspective. “Orange Creams”, for as long as I can remember, were the biscuits that were left from the packet of “Assorted Creams” after everyone had taken the good ones. So my WAG is that yes, it was market forces. Someone finally worked out, after decades, that hardly anyone likes the things. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/5 "2003-02-18T14:14:42Z")
I’ve seen them in biscuit assortments (they are easily recognised as they are the ones left at the end). Pretty sure I’ve seen whole packets of them recently on the shelf in larger supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![ozman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@ozman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ozman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/6 "2003-02-18T14:21:34Z")
You can still get 'em here (Edinburgh); they’re sandwiched between Jammie Dodgers and those pink wafers in several corner shops around here. I certainly haven’t seen them in Tesco’s for a while, though. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/7 "2003-02-18T14:53:32Z")
And, of course, they were / are quite closely related to the equally unconvincing ‘custard creams’ – more edible, maybe, but rather lacking on the custard front. I’m a late convert to cheap and nasty chockie bourbons, if you’re at all interested. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/8 "2003-02-18T17:16:13Z")
you can’t get Viscounts in orange flavour anymore, either. I would have said the orange gunk factory had closed down, but noticed at Christmas the boxes of Cadbury’s Roses said “Cremes back by popular demand” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/9 "2003-02-18T17:41:22Z")
Sir Doris, I think you have hit on the secret they are all trying to keep from us. The orange gunk factory HAS closed down. I had a box of Milk Tray last week and the ones that were described in the picture menu thingymajig as “orange cremes” were in fact, orange flavoured chocolate all the way through, with no discernible "creme"y bit of any flavour whatsoever in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/10 "2003-02-18T18:53:29Z")
Oh yes, **London\_Calling**. The cheaper the better. Crawford’s, Tesco Value biscuit assortment, Aldi’s own… There’s such a thing as [http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/](http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/) but unfortunately it doesn’t have any information as to the availability of sugar-based orange gunk. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/11 "2003-02-18T19:01:29Z")
Well, I’ve just been in the Co-op, and there are indeed no orange cream biscuits to be seen. I think this warrants further investigation. Broadband! _WOOSH!_😃 ---
**Author:** ![pierre72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@pierre72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pierre72)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/12 "2003-02-25T09:20:32Z")
WotNot - You talk a good game… but your actions apparently fail to back them up. Unless, of course, you’ve spent the last week frantically trawling all the Happy Shoppers the length and breadth of the country, in which case I apologise profusely for such slanderous comments… I too have been keeping a constant eye out for Orange Creams (my tea is sadly lacking that rainbow-coloured oily film that comes from dunking the orange goo in said hot beverage), but alas with no success. No whole packets, and sadly none in the biscuit assortments - merely Custard Cremes, Nice biscuits (speaking of which - is that pronounced like the French Town or the adjective? “Neese” or “nais”?), and shortcake fingers. Maybe a bourbon if you’re lucky. Re. the post on the Cadbury’s Roses - I agree, and was one of the ones who wrote to Cadburys demanding they be reinstated (got a lovely £3 chocolate voucher too for my trouble. Mind you, I did tell them they’d ruined my Christmas). So, there must be, somewhere in the YooKay, an Orange Gunk factory gathering dust and cobwebs. What say we storm it, armed only with Fry’s Chocolate Viennese, and re-start the pumps? Together, we can get Orange Cremes back on the supermarket shelves of Great Britain! This could be our finest hour! The future is in our hands - we just need to seize it! Brothers, Sisters… Are You With Me? (Cue “Land Of Hope And Glory”, and flag-waving pensioners outside Buckingham Palace. And I promise I’ll share my Knighthood for Services to Biscuits with the rest of you.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/13 "2003-02-25T10:43:08Z")
I have found that if there is any form of sugary treat that I dearly love and covet, then they will disappear from supermarket shelves within a year, or even as soon as six months. It’s a conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/14 "2003-02-25T10:54:36Z")
May I suggest someone contacts the nice people at [nice cup of tea and a sitdown dot com](http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/), who are the experts on all things biscuity. In fact I’ll do it. Will keep you posted. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/15 "2003-02-25T10:55:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tansu \* > Oh yes, London\_Calling. The cheaper the better. Crawford’s, Tesco Value biscuit assortment, Aldi’s own… God, I love cheap food talk … makes me feel so … dirty ! This, I’m afraid, sent me oh, oh, oh over the edge … A whole new world opens up to me; Biscuits, Domination, S&M … warm the pot, Matron, and fetch the … Sunday china ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/16 "2003-02-25T12:25:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pierre72 \* > \*\*WotNot - > > You talk a good game… but your actions apparently fail to back them up. Unless, of course, you’ve spent the last week frantically trawling all the Happy Shoppers the length and breadth of the country, in which case I apologise profusely for such slanderous comments… \*\* Excuse me? _Excuse me?_ I said that it warranted further investigation. Did I say that _I_ would do the investigating? _I think not!_ ---
**Author:** ![pierre72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@pierre72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pierre72)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/17 "2003-02-25T12:45:48Z")
Oh. I get it. You’re quite happy to do the sabre-rattling, but there’s no way you’re getting your feet wet in the trenches with the poor saps who’ll be going over the wall on your behalf. You’ll take the plaudits when Orange Creams re-appear at Sainsbury’s, but you’d rather not muddy your hands in the murky waters of biscuit conflict. Call yourself a soldier? You make me sick. I hope that, come the day when the shadowy and anonymous Powers That Be that govern the biscuit selection of people like me and GuanoLad are finally up against the wall, that you choke on a sultana in a packet of Fruit Shortcake. Take a leaf out of jjimm’s book. He’s going to [anicecupofteaandasitdown.com](http://anicecupofteaandasitdown.com) to get to the bottom of it. And what does he have to gain? Nothing. He’s doing it because he’s a humanitarian. Such altruism desrves a medal, and I’ll see to it that, come VB (Victory over Biscuit) Day, he gets the recognition he deseves. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/18 "2003-02-25T13:03:10Z")
**pierre72** , you’re embarrassing me (I have in fact been decorated - I received the Garibaldi medal of honour, but the dog ate it). ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/19 "2003-02-25T13:21:38Z")
In a similar vein, has anyone seen any _ **coffee cream** _ chocolates recently (in the UK). They now seem to be missing from the popular mixtures (Quality Street, Roses, etc.). Is this another example of the EU conspiracy, just because the chocolates contained neither coffee, cream, nor chocolate? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874/20 "2003-02-26T10:14:36Z")
Nicey got back to me re. Orange Creams! > [@](#): > > I last saw them about 18 months ago in Iceland in a mixed assortment, which had a pack of Orange creams, Custard creams and Coconut creams. They were not a well known brand. If I recall they emanated from the Wirral which is a hot bed of biscuit production. > > Also we spotted Orange Viscounts a few weeks ago in our local Tescos. No wonder they call him Nice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuit-question-for-british-dopers/155874.md?page=2)