Do Americans have digestive biscuits?
 

Hi all,

I'm working on a blog article for a blog with a predominantly American audience (mine is a bit more UK oriented.)

If you're American, does "digestive biscuit" mean anything to you? If so, what? I don't want to totally confuse readers by referring to something non-existant in the US...

Thanks!

Ali

I'm an American and I've never heard of it.

I suspected that would be the case ... I think I'll leave it out, then. Cheers, Dave!

Ali

Hmm a Mcvities Digestive and a brew...can't go wrong!

I haven't seen a digestive biscuit for years. I was beginning to wonder if I had eaten them all.

British terminologly is always strange to me. Englanders talk like us, only slightly weird (or we talk like you only slightly weird). I would translate that as an antacid tablet, lol.

Here in the States, if you can look in some specialty food shops (such as the one I used to own), you might be able to find them (presuming you knew what they are in the first place).

Curious Little Factoid: One of the reasons they never got a toe-hold here in the States was their name. Our FDA some long time ago ruled that the term "digestive" was a "medical claim" that had never been proven.

@Lucas--
They're not antacids at all but pretty tasty plain-ish cookies. We had a hard time keeping McVitties and Hob Nobs in stock; we used to joke that their recipes called for a little smidge of crack.

@Ali--
I'm afraid there's no real American equivalent that I could suggest for your article.

I see them at World Market but to Americans it would be just another cookie, something we eat too many of anyway.

Instead we have a multi-billion dollar industry selling Tums, Rolaids, Zantac and Pepto-Bismol.

Jennifer

No we don't have them at all. I've never even heard the term before. I'm shocked someone hasn't brought the market to the U.S. yet.

So what does the term "digestive" have to do with a biscuit? Most english terminology makes at least some sense to me (biscuits=cookies, tin=can, chips=fries, etc), but a "digestive biscuit" just doesnt make sense to me.

Um, hello. Read my post above yours. :D

Jennifer

i live about 100 yards away from the mcvities factory and can smell bicuity goodness whenever i open my windows :D
digestives are my favorite, i never really thought about the name before...

They're wholemeal biscuits. My husband arrived in Australia from the UK talking about digestive biscuits. They're not just plain, they're wholemeal, so they're meant to be better for your digestive tract.

Hazel

They are very popular over here in the UK. McVities are the best known brand but supermarket chains do their own brand as well. So, if you live in the States and there is a new Tesco supermarket near you, you can probably buy them there. They are either plain wholemeal or covered in milk chocolate or dark chocolate. There are reduced fat versions as well.

We British have a thing about our biscuits. ‘Cookies’ to us mean little round, nobbly biscuits, usually with chocolate chips in them.

I rue the day when McDonald's opened its first 'restaurant' in London in 1974 and chips were renamed to fries. What an abomination! :)