Jammie Dodgers change their recipe – and vegans aren’t happy

Name: Jammie Dodgers.

Age: About 50.

Appearance: Round biscuit with a bleeding heart at its centre.

That’s just jam showing through. Yes. There’s no blood in the recipe – only shortbread and raspberry-flavoured jam.

So simple, and yet so pleasing. Oh, yeah – and milk.

Milk? It’s a new thing: Burton’s Biscuit Company, which makes of Jammie Dodgers, has recently added milk protein – whey – to the venerable formulation.

Why? “To improve flavour and texture,” according to a statement. The change is part of an overhaul that will also see the sugar content reduced by 22%, in a bid to improve dwindling sales.

Always trying to make things better for consumers, even when they hardly notice or care. Vegans have noticed.

What do Jammie Dodgers have to do with vegans? By virtue of what they didn’t contain, Dodgers were an inadvertently vegan product, which vegan devotees could consume with a clear conscience. The addition of whey changes everything.

So veganism just got that little bit more joyless? They should be even more pleased with themselves. They’re not pleased. A week-old change.org petition asking the company to reconsider the recipe change has already garnered about 6,000 signatures.

Six thousand signatures because of a bit of milk? It’s not as if they’ve started making them out of badgers. Along with vegans, the lactose intolerant have long sought out Jammie Dodgers as a safe, milk-free treat, widely available and much cheaper than health-food-shop alternatives.

What does Burton’s have to say about the complaints? It says that Jammie Dodgers have long been labelled with the warning “may contain milk” anyway, because they’re made on a production line with other products containing dairy. “We take allergen control very seriously and aim to ensure we give the correct information to customers.”

It sounds as if some customers’ feedback is more important than others. The Vegan Society agrees: “They are reducing the size of their market significantly,” said a spokesperson, “which doesn’t seem to make much commercial sense.”

Do say: “It seems a pointless adjustment to make if it risks alienating consumers who, for reasons of health or conscience, are trying to reduce their dairy intake. Get out the whey!”

Don’t say: “And while you’re at it, put all that sugar back!”