Cadbury Animals Mini Biscuits, 139.3g

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Ethical Consumer’s cocoa rating requires companies who use cocoa to demonstrate that all their suppliers are certified by one of two voluntary certification schemes: Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance (which includes UTZ). In the UK, all sugar beet grown by farmers is processed by British Sugar, owner of the Silver Spoon brand and a subsidiary of Associated British Foods which also owns Ryvita. In January 2021, British Sugar, together with the National Farmers’ Union, successfully lobbied the government for authorisation to use a pesticide containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam which has been banned by the EU for all outdoor use since 2018 because of its negative environmental impacts, particularly the harm it does to bees. The sugar beet crop was under threat from a potentially devastating disease called virus yellows. But with biscuits commonly containing palm oil, cocoa and sugar – ingredients often associated with human rights abuses and environmental destruction – how ethical is what you’re munching? We take a look at these three ingredients and how companies are sourcing them. Island Bakery, Lazy Day, Doves Farm and Windmill Organics (owner of Amisa and Biona) also receive a best rating.

British Sugar not only processes all sugar beet, it controls seed sales and funds UK research on the crop. Lazy Day Foods* – All biscuits. (All biscuits are palm oil free, but company uses palm oil in some other products like tiffin and slices.) With your hands, separate the dough into smaller balls and roll each ball with a rolling pin until thin.The focus on public health often means that other ethical issues related to sugar are overlooked. As with cocoa, human rights abuses are widespread in sugar cane cultivation. The US Department of Labor reports likely child or forced labour in sugar cane production in 19 countries around the world, mainly in Asia and Latin America. Sugar made from beet is chemically identical to sugar made from cane, and the sweet stuff in your biscuits could come from either plant with no difference in the labelling. For readers who prefer to avoid palm oil, below is a list of palm oil free biscuits. We’ve only included the companies that receive our best rating for palm oil or are entirely palm oil free, because we think it’s important to consider what the company is doing as a whole. Some other brands and most supermarkets also have palm oil free options. Palm oil rating and biscuits Brand (and palm rating) Overall, the average amount of sugar in biscuits has dropped by a tiny percentage (under 2%, from 2015 baseline to 2019) and campaign group Action on Sugar argue that the voluntary scheme isn’t working. They continue to push for compulsory sugar reduction. Human rights overlooked in sugar production

Those that did not meet the threshold for a middle scored a worst rating. This includes Yildiz, which owns Pladis Foods, maker of McVitie’s, Jacob’s, Carr’s, and TUC. In 2020, only 40% of palm ingredients used for its consumer goods globally were RSPO-certified. Yildiz also owns two processing plants that refine palm oil, and despite the issues being known for more than 10 years, as a processor only 3% of its palm ingredients were RSPO-certified in 2020. Associated British Foods (Ryvita) also scored a worst rating.The expandable tabs below shows the vegan biscuits made by the brands and supermarkets we have rated. It includes biscuits that are labelled as vegan by the brand or the shops which sell them as well as many which are not. Discussions about sugar often focus on its impact on public health, and in particular on childhood obesity. A levy on soft drinks has been in place for five years in the UK and has resulted in significant reductions in the amount of sugar in drinks and in consumers shifting to drinks with less sugar. Despite this, the levy hasn’t been extended beyond drinks, and biscuits manufacturers are currently merely encouraged to reduce sugar, with a target of 20%.