Yes, you can find product lists on our website for all key groups, for example, products which are suitable for vegetarians. Please look at the 'Special Diets' section of our website. If you have a nutritional or dietary query which is not covered by these, please contact us via our Contact Us section via e mail, or call us on our Careline, and we will do our best to help.

MSG or Monosodium Glutamate (E621) is used to develop and enhance the flavour of many savoury products and is commonly found in soups, sauces, prepared meals and sausages as well as in snacks such as crisps and savoury biscuits.

MSG is permitted in foods in general to a maximum level of 10g/kg according to both UK and EC legislation. There are some foods or types of food which are not allowed to contain additives, or where the use of certain additives is restricted, this includes foods for infants and young children. It is correct that MSG is not permitted in these foods, however our products do not fall into this category. Foods for infants and young children actually refers to formulae and weaning foods or foods that are specially prepared for infants and young children.

We recognise that some people need or prefer to avoid MSG in their diet and where it is included as an ingredient will always be labelled clearly on packaging within the ingredients list. You may like to know that products within our Phileas Fogg range do not contain any MSG.

Unfortunately, many of our products are not suitable as they contain cereal or flour based ingredients. For more information please go to the 'Special Diets' section of our website.

Should alcohol be used as a direct ingredient, for example within the recipe for a Christmas cake line within the cream flavouring, this would be clearly labelled within the list of ingredients.

Occasionally however, it is possible that trace amounts can be used purely as a carrier in a flavour used in our products. The amount within the product is minute; however if you have any concerns for your diet or require any further information then please contact us.

I have an enquiry about where can I buy a product you manufacture. Where can I get more information?

Unfortunately, we can't specify the individual stores in your area that stock this product, as we deliver to the Central Warehouses of large multiples, and because store ranges change from time to time. Smaller stores or outlets purchase from local Wholesale or Cash and Carry outlets.

Many grocery outlets stock products which we supply direct to their own central warehouses. As a consequence, it is difficult to be precise as to which of the individual stores have received particular lines via their own distribution network.

Stores will order in supplies from their own warehouses via a computerised stock control system. As you would expect the goods they order and the range they stock canbe influenced by many factors including shop floor space, best sellers, popular lines etc.

Perhaps you could indicate your interest to the Manager or the Customer Services Department of your local supermarket who can inform you if they are likely to stock this product.

Another suggestion might be to approach a smaller independent retailer who obtains their stock from a local Cash and Carry and who might be willing to pick up a box for you when they next stock up.

Contact numbers for some store groups are as below and may also be able to advise you.

Somerfield: 0117 9359359
Tesco: 0800 505555
Co-op: 0161 827 6616
Sainsbury: 0800 636 262
Asda: 0500 100055

Thank you for your interest in our products.

In the case of cardboard such as cartons, or paper, this can be recycled through normal recycling facilities.

Plastic packaging, used in many of our packs, is recyclable, however currently there are very limited facilities to accommodate this. However, we are aware that work with is underway to try to develop suitable waste collection in the UK.

Work is also in place to develop plastic packaging from sustainable bio sources such as corn and soya. Development of these materials will result in biodegradable and compostable films suitable for packaging our products.

In 2012, United Biscuits launched the McVitie's Biscuit Wrapper Brigade with TerraCycle. TerraCycle takes packaging waste which is not currently recycled through existing schemes, and recycles them into new items, such as lunch boxes, pencil cases, or park benches.

You need to sign up first, to be a member of the Brigade, and then you can send your biscuit wrappers to TerraCycle. Once TerraCycle receive a certain amount of wrappers from each Brigade member, money is raised for a charitable donation.

More information is available on:

http://www.terracycle.co.uk/en-UK/brigades/mcvities-biscuit-wrapper-brigade.html, or via calling McVitie's Careline, on 0500 011710

There are a number of reasons why this might happen. The most common reasons are as follows:

Some products are removed from sale by retail outlets as they do not reach the rate of sale required to mantain viability on shelf. Unfortunately, in many cases we are unable to influence this.

However, a long standing product may also be discontinued due to a falling off of popularity, resulting in it no longer being a viable product to produce.

All consumer units, i.e. what is sold via a retail outlet, are required to carry a Best Before code, to advise the recommended time for consumption of the product.

In the case of multi-packs, due to manufacturing complexities occasionally the date codes are applied to the outer packaging only, as this is the unit being offered for sale and therefore covers the entire contents. The code on the individual packet is not a best before date; it is an internal code which show us the week, line number of production, production team/shift and the time the packet was produced. In these cases, a note of the best before date applied to the outer pack needs to be made.

We regret any inconvenience caused, and trust this provides the explanation that you require for your query.

I don't understand the four digit code on the packet, does it tell me if the product is still satisfactory to eat?

The four digit code, for example 3123, is a manufacturing code, with the first digit being the year of manufacture, and the subsequent 3 numbers being the day of the year on which it was made, in this case the 3rd of May. Most baked biscuit products have a shelf life of 6 months, although other products, such as cakes that we sell have less than this. From this you will be able to determine how new or old the pack you have with this code is.

The general rule for all of our products is to store them in a cool, dark place, particularly so for chocolate products. We would strongly recommend storing our products away from strong flavours or materials such as washing powders or other cleaning materials, which may taint the product and result in poor taste or quality.

You can contact our Consumer Services team on our Careline, or via e mail. You can find these on the Contact Us page of our web site.

If you are for any reason dissatisfied with any of our products, please contact us as above to inform us so that we can look into it and where necessary take any actions needed.

For any other query, not listed above, please contact us and we will do our best to help.