Choose a plain egg cake if you’d like one larger, soft cake while watching TV; choose a digestive if you’d rather reach for a crisp biscuit at a time. A wholemeal egg cake is another option if you want to consider the type of flour and fibre. Compare the amount you’ll actually eat as well as the nutritional values per 100 g, and always check the label of your chosen product for allergens.
Would you rather enjoy one larger, light cake during a night in front of the TV than several small biscuits? A plain egg cake has the texture you’re looking for. Just remember to check the weight and nutritional values of the portion you choose.
If you’d rather reach for a crisp biscuit at a time, a digestive could be a good fit. Jumbo lists one biscuit as a portion for McVitie's Digestives Original; check how many biscuits you’d like to eat.
If you need to avoid a particular allergen, the product type alone isn’t enough to help you choose. Check the ingredients, allergens and any warnings on each pack; even a gluten-free egg cake may contain other allergens.
First decide whether you’d prefer a soft cake or a crunchy biscuit for your night in front of the TV. Then compare portions and nutritional information, and check the ingredients and packaging before you buy.
| What to consider | What to check before buying | Who is this important to? |
|---|---|---|
| Texture and size | Check whether it’s a soft egg cake or a crunchy digestive, and look at the weight per piece. | If I want one larger cake to enjoy in front of the TV, an egg cake is a better fit for my snack break; for crunchy individual biscuits, I’d look at digestives. Around 33% of consumers are said to consider texture and size their main priority. |
| Nutritional values and portion size | Compare the nutritional information per 100 g and for the amount you plan to eat, paying particular attention to sugars, fats and fibre. | I want to know how my actual portion affects the nutritional values, especially if I’m having several biscuits rather than one egg cake. This is said to be the main consideration for around 25% of consumers. |
| Allergens | Read the current ingredients list and allergen information; if you need a gluten-free product, look for an explicit claim on the packaging. | If I need to avoid an ingredient, the label tells me whether this particular cake is suitable for me. Allergens are said to be the main consideration for around 25% of consumers. |
| Packaging and storage | Check the number of pieces, the best-before date and the storage instructions for an opened pack. | I don’t always eat a whole pack in one evening and want to know how much I’ll open and how to store the rest. This is said to be the main consideration for around 17% of consumers. |
A smaller piece and a larger piece aren’t equal portions. Jumbo also lists 221 kcal and 22,1 g of sugars per 75 g egg cake, so the fat content alone doesn’t tell you the whole nutritional story.
Compare products per 100 g, then consider how much of each one you’d actually like to eat.
These names don’t tell you on their own how much sugar, fat or fibre a product contains. The name ‘digestive’ also doesn’t prove that it aids digestion.
Read the nutritional information for the product you’ve chosen and take the portion weight into account when comparing.
According to the product information, Albert Heijn’s gluten-free egg cakes still contain egg, milk and soya, and may contain sesame and nuts.
Check the current packaging for every allergen you need to avoid each time you buy.
The same search term may also bring up other types of cake or kitchenware. The search term alone doesn’t tell you which cake is in a particular pack.
Open the product details page and check the product name, variant, pack contents and ingredients before choosing.
Brosse Eierkoek Kaneel offers a different texture and flavour from a plain soft egg cake or a digestive.
Worth considering if you’d like to look at crunchy biscuits as well as egg cakes, such as San Francisco Volkoren.
The egg cake range includes plain, mini, wholemeal, spelt and gluten-free options.
A useful option for comparing plain and wholemeal egg cakes with a crunchy digestive.
Lidl lists a 360 g pack of egg cakes containing 12 pieces.
If you’d like to reach for a crunchy biscuit at a time during your night in front of the TV, you can assess this Digestive Original based on portion size, nutritional information and ingredients. The points above still apply if you’re choosing a soft egg cake.
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A crunchy biscuit for anyone who’d rather reach for one biscuit at a time while watching TV than have one larger, soft egg cake.
For McVitie's Digestives Original, Jumbo lists one 14,7 g biscuit as a portion. The nutritional information for this variant lists 483 kcal, 21,3 g of fat and 3,7 g of fibre per 100 g.
Contains wheat and cereals containing gluten, and may contain milk. Check the current packaging for allergen information.
No. The plain egg cake described is a larger, soft cake, while the digestives described are crunchy biscuits. Choose based on the texture you’d like for your night in front of the TV, and compare the weight of the portion you plan to eat.
No, you can’t infer that from the name. For McVitie's Digestives Milk Chocolate, Jumbo explicitly states that the biscuit ingredients contain no substances that aid digestion. Assess each variant based on its own ingredients and nutritional information.
No, wholemeal doesn’t mean gluten-free. The Jumbo Eierkoeken Volkoren described contain wheat, barley and oats, among other ingredients. If you need a gluten-free option, check that the specific pack is explicitly labelled gluten-free and read the rest of the allergen information too.
Check the ingredients list and allergen information on the packaging of the specific product. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority explains how allergens are listed on labels; the product name and type of cake are no substitute for this information.
Follow the storage instructions on your own pack and seal opened biscuits tightly. Albert Heijn recommends storing AH Digestive in a cool, dark, dry place and keeping it in a sealed tin after opening.
