Comparative Test

In India, like in the rest of the world, cookies are

one of the most common snacks. There could
be over 500 variants of cookies including
traditional, handmade biscuits. For many,
cookies are a kind of all-time and anytime
food that gives instant energy and refreshing
nourishment. From ‘plain salted’ and ‘plain
sweet’ to more refined versions blended with
dry fruits, to varieties with flavours such as cocoa,
chocolate and cardamom, it is a broad platter to
choose from.
One of the largest-selling flavours in Indian households is the butter bite. Hence,
Consumer VOICE set out to collect samples of eight brands of butter-bite biscuits, to
find out what makes them the most preferred taste of India, as also to see if these
brands kept their promise of ‘not just taste but also health’ of their consumers.

A long time ago, when life had just

started to become complex and
fast-paced, and humans had just cre-
almost every grocery store you visited.
Cookies continue to be improvised,
What type is your
favourite?
and their varieties are expanding.
Your cookie is either sweet or salty,
ated ships and started to sail, cook- Some of these have been branded,
or is a filled and coated biscuit. The
ies were invented. As sailors needed packed, and make their way to your essential ingredients to make all
easy-to-carry, easy-to-store as well as kitchen cabinets and coffee tables. of these cookies are, namely, flour
long-lasting foods for their journeys,
(maida), sugar, fat or shortening, and
they started making a paste of flour
Top cookie brands without water. The healthier forms of biscuits
dough which was dried and hardened cashew nuts
(the process later became baking) are now replacing maida with whole
Brand Rank grain or multi-grain dough. These
and cut into pieces. These pieces
McVitie's 1 biscuits are high on fibre content.
were eaten with tea, butter, honey,
Unibic 2
pepper or pickles. Experiments kept It is difficult to classify biscuits based on
Priyagold 3
happening, these pieces of hardened chemical composition and processing
dough kept evolving, became lighter Top cookie brands with cashew
methodologies due to overlap. On
nuts
and tastier, and spread across the the basis of sensory attributes, the
globe in hundreds of forms. Brand Rank
different varieties can be broadly
Sunfeast 1 classified into five categories: 1)
And when life started to become
Britannia 2
november 2012

even more complicated and fast, and sweet, 2) semi-sweet, 3) crackers, 4)

Parle 3 cookies, and 5) specialty biscuits.
everything became instant, a few
smart minds packed these pieces of Anmol 4
Across India, there could be over
dough and made them available at Tasty Treat 5
500 variants of cookies including

Consumer voice 7
 Comparative Test

traditional, handmade biscuits. Some What lies in your cookie?

of the basic cookies include ‘plain
VOICE tested eight most popular as well as regular-selling brands of butter
salted’ and ‘plain sweet’ as well as
cookies. Four brands claimed cashew nut quantity to be 2-6 per cent. In the
coconut-flavoured cookies. The more
tables that follow, you will be able to compare the claims that biscuit brands
refined versions are blended with dry
make on their packs vis-à-vis the actual results from the labs that tested random
fruits including cashews, almonds,
samples of biscuits of each of these brands.
pistachios and peanuts. One of the
largest-selling flavours in Indian Brand Claims on cashew nuts
households is the butter bite. Unibic butter cookies May contain traces of nuts
McVitie’s butter cookies Not claimed
Against this backdrop, Consumer
Parle 20-20 4%
VOICE picked up samples of eight Sunfeast cashew cookies 3.5 %
major brands of butter bite biscuits Britannia Good Day 4%
and tested them to find out what Priyagold Butter Bite Premium Not claimed
makes them the most preferred taste Anmol Butter Bite kaju 2%
of India, as also to see if these brands Tasty Treat Butter cashew cookies 6%
kept their promise of ‘not just taste
How are they wrapped, rolled and packed?
but also health’ of their consumers.
Biscuits should be packed in clean, sound containers, made of tin plate, cardboard,
paper, or other material in such a way that it protects them from breakage,
Test Parameters contamination, absorption of moisture and seepage of fat from the biscuits into
the packing materials. The pack should not impart/induce any objectionable
The brands selected for the test
odour or taste into the biscuits. The biscuits should not come in direct contact
were finalized based on market
with the packaging material other than grease-proof or sulphite paper, cellulose
research conducted in metro
film, aluminium coating/laminates, food-grade plastics, or any other non-toxic
cities. The testing was carried out
packing material that may be covered with a moisture-proof film, waxed paper,
on various parameters: namely
or moisture-proof laminates. The inner layer coming in contact with biscuits
sensory (organoleptic) tests,
should be of food-grade quality, or coated paper. The biscuits in tins should not
total fat (saturated and trans-
come in direct contact with non-lacquered metal walls.
fat), cholesterol, protein, sugar,
carbohydrate, energy value, Scores on the Basis of Packaging
crude fibre, extracted nuts, and
Score out
microbiological tests. Brand Observation
of 3
Unibic Packed in thermoplastic and cardboard box 3
McVitie’s Packed in thermoplastic 2.5
Parle Packed in thermoplastic 2.5
Sunfeast Packed in thermoplastic 2.5
Britannia Packed in thermoplastic 2.5
Priyagold Packed in thermoplastic 2.5
Anmol Packed in thermoplastic and hard cardboard box 3
Tasty Treat Packed in thermoplastic 2.5

What should be on the packet?

The following information shall be clearly and indelibly marked on the label of
each container/packet:
a Name of product
b Trade name, if any
c Name and address of manufacturer
d Batch or code number
november 2012

e Net quantity in gram or kilogram

f List of ingredients, in descending order of their composition by quantity
g The statement with respect to addition of permitted colour and flavours
h Month and year of manufacture

8 Consumer voice
 What's In Your Cookie?

i The words ‘Best before’ (month and year to be indicated) Moisture in your cookie
j Any other requirements as specified under Legal Metrology (Packaged
As per Bureau of Indian Standards,
Commodities) Rules, 2011, and Food Safety & Standards Act and Rules
moisture in biscuit shall not be more
k Standard mark, if any
than 5.0%.
l Nutritional information
m Veg./non-veg. mark Moisture Score out
Brand
(%) of 3
Scores on the Basis of Information Provided on Packets Unibic 2.92 2.12
Brand Observation Score out of 5 McVitie’s 0.64 3.00
Unibic All information provided 5–2.5 = 2.5* Parle 1.97 2.40
McVitie’s Storage instruction not given 4.5 Sunfeast 4.05 1.80
Parle All information provided 5–2.5 = 2.5* Britannia 2.40 2.28
Sunfeast All information provided 5 Priyagold 2.20 2.34
Britannia Storage instruction not given 4.5 Anmol 2.79 2.16
Priyagold All information provided 5 Tasty Treat 2.38 2.29
Anmol All information provided 5 Noted:
Tasty Treat All information provided 5
All the brands were found containing
*50% weightage deducted due to misleading claims
moisture in the range of 0.64% to
Claimed Quantities of Butter and Cashew Nuts 4.05%, which is within the permissible
limit of 5.0%.
Brand Quantity of butter added (%) Cashew nuts added
Unibic 15 May contain traces of nuts Dirt and dust in your
McVitie’s 3.0 Not claimed cookie?
Parle 0.3 4%
Sunfeast 0.43 3.5% Acid insoluble ash indicates the
Britannia 4.2 4% presence of sand, dirt and dust. As per
Priyagold Not mentioned Not claimed the Indian Standards, acid insoluble
Anmol Not mentioned 2% ash content in biscuits should not be
Tasty Treat 3.0 6% more than 0.05%, and as per Food
Noted: Safety and Standards Authority of
1. Unibic claimed to be adding 15% butter – the highest among the brands India (FSSAI), not more than 0.1%.
tested. Parle and Sunfeast had the lowest – being less than 1%. Brand Results Score out
2. Priyagold and Anmol did not declare butter quantity. (%) of 3
3. Parle claimed to be butter cookies but added only 0.3% butter, while Unibic 0.02 2.4
Sunfeast had only 0.43% butter. McVitie’s <0.01 3.0
4. Brand Unibic’s claim of ‘may contain traces of nuts’ is misleading. Parle 0.02 2.4
Sunfeast 0.01 2.7
Britannia 0.02 2.4
Priyagold <0.01 3.0
Scores on the Basis of Actual Nuts Extracted during Test
Anmol <0.01 3.0
Claims on cashew Score out Tasty Treat 0.02 2.4
Brand Results (%)
nuts of 6 Noted:
Unibic butter cookies May contain traces Not found in 0.6
All the brands were well within the
of nuts significant
prescribed limits.
quantity
McVitie’s butter cookies Not claimed - Is your cookie making you
Parle 20-20 4% 4.10 4.26 fat?
Sunfeast cashew cookies 3.5% 3.62 3.97
Britannia Good Day 4% 4.16 4.30 Total edible fat
Priyagold Butter Bite Not claimed - - Most of the brands contained fat in
november 2012

Premium the form of edible vegetable fat as

Anmol Butter Bite kaju 2% 2.0 3.0 well as fat of the added butter. The
Tasty Treat Butter cashew 6% 6.54 5.7 total extracted fat is reported in the
cookies table here:

Consumer voice 9
 Comparative Test

Declared value Results

Brand Score out of 8
(gm/100g) (gm/100g)
Unibic 24.2 23.46 5.81
McVitie’s 18.2 19.39 7.44
Parle 22.7 ( veg. fat only) 21.09 6.76
Sunfeast 21.2 21.84 6.46
Britannia 23 21.35 6.66
Priyagold 22.62 21.06 6.78
Anmol 20.1 19.99 7.2
Tasty Treat 24.0 23.02 5.99
Noted:
Lower fat is good for the consumer. Thus, brand McVitie’s, which has the lowest fat, scored highest, followed by Anmol.
Unibic scored lowest.
Acidity of extracted fat
As per the Indian Standards, acidity of extracted fat shall not be more than 1.2 and 1.5 (as per FSSAI).

Brand Results (%) Score out of 3

Unibic 0.44 2.49
McVitie’s 0.48 2.43
Parle 0.42 2.52
Sunfeast 0.57 2.30
Britannia 0.56 2.31
Priyagold 0.50 2.40
Anmol 0.48 2.43
Tasty Treat 0.36 2.69

Noted:
The results of acidity of extracted fat obtained are well within the limits and indicate that the quantity of fat used was
good.
Trans-fatty acid
Trans-fat or trans-fatty acids are not desired and should be minimum or absent. They are produced by heating liquid
vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen. Trans-fats are even worse for cholesterol levels than saturated fats because
they raise LDL (low density lipoprotein) ‘bad’ cholesterol and lower HDL (high density lipoprotein) ‘good’ cholesterol.
Like saturated fats, trans-fats raise the level of ‘bad’ cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. Unlike saturated
fats, though, trans-fats lower ‘good’ cholesterol. Consumer awareness has led many manufacturers to reformulate prod-
ucts to reduce or eliminate trans-fats. Be careful to choose products that do not use trans-fats.
Trans-fat was found to be below <0.01% in all the tested brands, making them safe for consumption.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is best known for its association with cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol is especially bad because it increases
the risk for nervous system problems, gall bladder stones and perhaps even cancer. It may also affect brain synapse
connectivity. Overall, cholesterol is expected to be as low as possible.

Brand Declared value Results, mg/100g Score out of 4

Unibic 15mg 16.23 1.94
McVitie’s 40mg 40.83* 0.8
Parle Not declared 1.4 4
Sunfeast Not declared <1 4
Britannia 13mg 2.53 3.95
Priyagold 1.34mg 2.63 3.92
Anmol 0mg 3.34 3.85
november 2012

Tasty Treat Not declared <1 4

*The consumer should be cautious about over-consumption due to higher level of cholesterol.
Noted:
The presence of cholesterol in this category is due to addition of butter as well as cashew nuts.

10 Consumer voice
 What's In Your Cookie?

Saturated fatty acid

Saturated fatty acids are fats that remain solid at room temperature. Saturated fats are derived from animal fat as well as
vegetable fat. These fats directly raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Saturated fats should be on the lower side.

Brand Declared value Results (g/100g) Score out of 7

Unibic 14.4g 15.23 2.66
McVitie’s 0.76g 9.96 3.54
Parle Not declared 9.85 4.97
Sunfeast Not declared 10.14 4.87
Britannia 11g 10.55 4.67
Priyagold Not declared 9.92 4.94
Anmol 10.3g 9.44 5.15
Tasty Treat Not declared 13.51 3.43
Voice went to a couple of laboratories for help with identifying and quantifying the butter and the oil separately from
total fat in biscuits. The answer was unanimous: currently there was no method to do this.

Does it contain healthy protein?

Protein plays an important role in cellular maintenance, growth and functioning of the human body.

Brand Declared value Results (g/100g) Score out of 8

Unibic 7.4 7.32 6.92
McVitie’s 7.7 6.82 6.44
Parle 6.9 7.84 7.44
Sunfeast 7.6 6.72 6.32
Britannia 7.5 7.22 6.84
Priyagold 7.98 6.24 5.84
Anmol 8.4 7.45 7.06
Tasty Treat 4.0 6.09 5.70

How sweet is your cookie?

Most of the biscuits contain moderate to high amounts of sugar. This sugar gives a sudden spike of energy but does not
fill us. Also, diabetics have to be careful that the biscuit they eat is low in sugar. One can check the amount of sugar by
checking the package. The Indian Standards have set no specific limit but a higher quantity of sugar is not desirable.

Brand Declared value Results (g/100g) Score out of 5

Unibic 25.2 24.02 3.6
McVitie’s 24.9 22.18 4.05
Parle 21.8 21.49 4.21
Sunfeast 24.4 22.24 4.05
Britannia 24 22.89 3.9
Priyagold 11.15 22.12 4.08–2 = 2.08*
Anmol 10.9 23.15 3.84–2 = 1.84*
Tasty Treat 28.0 27.36 2.90
*The sugar content in brands Priyagold and Anmol was found to be twice their declared value.

Total carbohydrates
Indian Standards do not have any prescribed requirement for carbohydrate since a wide variety of biscuits is produced.

Brand Declared value Results (g/100g) Score out of 4

Unibic 65.4 65.45 3.94
McVitie’s 68.9 70.71 3.44
Parle 67.6 68.04 3.70
Sunfeast 68.4 66.18 3.88
Britannia 64.0 67.97 3.70
Priyagold 68.38 69.45 3.57
november 2012

Anmol 68.0 68.47 3.65

Tasty Treat 57.0 67.36 3.74
Noted:
The results are between 65.45 and 70.71 per 100g. We have considered lower value of carbohydrate as better.

Consumer voice 11
 Comparative Test

Energy value Key findings

There is no calorific value requirement prescribed in Indian Standards. Total fat (as vegetable oil and
butter): Ranges from 19.39% to
Results
Brand Declared value Score out of 5 23.46%. McVitie’s and Anmol have
(kcal/100g)
the lowest percentage of total fat, and
Unibic 509 512.6 4.30 Unibic and Tasty Treat the highest.
McVitie’s 469 466.6 4.98
Parle 502 493.0 4.59 Protein: Found in the range of 6.09%
Sunfeast 495 501.3 4.48 to 7.84 %. The highest quantity is in
Britannia 493 494.9 4.58 Parle and Anmol, and the lowest in
Priyagold 492 484.0 4.75 Tasty Treat and Priyagold.
Anmol 486 481.9 4.75
Sugar: Sugar quantity is in the range
Tasty Treat 460.0 496.3 4.55
of 21.49% to 27.36%. Tasty Treat and
Crude fibre Unibic have the highest quantity, and
The source of crude fibre is wheat flour. Crude fibre was found in insignificant Parle and McVitie’s the lowest.
quantity in all the brands tested. Carbohydrate and energy value:
Carbohydrate level is highest in
Microbiological tests
McVitie’s and Priyagold, and lowest in
Microbiological contamination is a very serious issue for food products. Unibic and Sunfeast. Energy value is
Total Plate Count highest in Unibic and Sunfeast, and
lowest in McVitie’s and Anmol.
Brand Results (per gram) Score out of 3
Butter: Parle claims to be ‘butter
Unibic 20 2.8 cookies’ but adds only 0.3% butter.
McVitie’s <10 3.0
Sunfeast claims 0.43% butter.
Parle 40 2.6
Sunfeast 10 2.9 Safety (cholesterol, saturated
Britannia 10 2.9 and trans-fat, acidity of insoluble
Priyagold <10 3.0 ash, extracted fibre and micro-
Anmol 20 2.8 biological contamination): Cho-
Tasty Treat 10 2.9
lesterol is in varying quantity from
Noted: brand to brand, as are trans-fats and
All the brands were found safe in terms of microbial contamination. saturated fats. All the brands are free
E. coli from microbiological contamination.

All the tested brands were found free from E. coli bacteria. Cashew nuts: Most of the brands
claim to contain crushed pieces
Sensory tests (granules) of cashew nuts. The most
The sensory panel tests for the eight biscuit brands were conducted on various quantity has been found in Tasty Treat
criteria/attributes including colour/appearance, flavour/odour, taste, after- (6.54%) and the lowest in Anmol
taste feeling, and overall acceptance (irrespective of the price). These were (2%). Brand Unibic’s claim of ‘may
conducted in the laboratory with trained panel members under the supervision contain traces of nuts’ is confusing.
of experts, as well as with external users. In terms of overall performance in the
Brand Score out of 24 test, in the ‘non-cashew nut’ category,
McVitie’s emerges on the top, followed
Unibic 19.52
by Unibic and Priyagold in the second
McVitie’s 19.73
Parle 17.87 and third positions, respectively.
Sunfeast 19.42 In the ‘cashew nut’ category, Sunfeast
november 2012

Britannia 18.85 emerges as the top butter-cookie

Priyagold 15.92
brand, followed by Britannia and Parle
Anmol 17.85
in the second and third positions,
Tasty Treat 14.67
respectively.

12 Consumer voice
 COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE SCORE OF BISCUITS/COOKIES (WITH BUTTER AND/OR CASHEW NUT)
Without Cashew Pieces With Cashew Nut Pieces
Brands
Weightage % McVitie’s Unibic Priayagold Sunfeast# Britannia# Parle Anmol Tasty Treat
Parameters
Quantity,gm 75 135 200 165 185 195 180 66
MRP (Rs) 12 25 20 20 25 19 20 14
Cost per 100 gram (Rs) 16.00 18.52 10.00 12.12 13.51 9.74 11.11 21.21
Packing 3 2.5 3 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 3.0 2.5
Marking 5 4.5 2.5 2.0Ω 5 4.5 2.5 Ω 2.0 Ω 5
Physicochemical Tests 
Net weight 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Moisture 3 3.0 2.12 2.34 1.80 2.28 2.40 2.16 2.29
Acid insoluble ash 3 3.0 2.4 3.0 2.7 2.4 2.4 3.0 2.4
Acidity of extracted fat 3 2.43 2.49 2.40 2.30 2.31 2.52 2.43 2.69
Fat 8 7.44 5.81 6.78 6.46 6.66 6.76 7.20 5.99
Protein 8 6.44 6.92 5.84 6.32 6.84 7.44 7.06 5.70
Total carbohydrate 4 3.44 3.94 3.57 3.88 3.70 3.70 3.65 3.74
Energy value 5 4.98 4.30 4.75 4.48 4.58 4.59 4.75 4.55
Total sugar 5 4.05 3.6 2.08 Ω 4.05 3.90 4.21 1.84 Ω 2.90
Cholesterol 4 0.8 1.94 3.92 4 3.95 4 3.85 4
Saturated fatty acid 7 3.54 Ω 2.66 4.94 4.87 4.67 4.97 5.15 3.43
Trans fat 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Extracted nuts 6 NA NA NA 3.97 4.30 4.26 3.0 5.7
Microbiological tests 
Total plate count 3 3.0 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.6 2.8 2.9
E.coli 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Sensory tests* 24 19.73 19.52 15.92 19.42 18.85 17.87 17.85 14.67
Total score 94/100 77.85/94 73.0/94 72.04/94 83.65 83.34 81.72 78.74 77.46
Overall score (%)§ 100 % 83 78 77 84 83 82 79 78

Ratings: >90 – Very good *****, 71-90- Good****, 51-70- Average ***, 31-50- Poor **, <30 – Very Poor*
*Sensory tests include attributes such as colour and appearance, flavour/odour, taste, after-taste feeling and visual defects
#Brands Sunfeast and Britannia, though not claiming to be butter-bite biscuits, added 0.43% and 4.2% butter, respectively

Consumer voice
Ω Weightage detected due to misleading/wrong claims as mentioned in key findings
§ Rounded-off values: <0.5 same value, ≥ 0.5 next digit assigned
NA: Not applicable
What's In Your Cookie?

13
november 2012