New rules have recently been introduced, which mean that some popular chocolate biscuit bars, like those we consumed in our youth, can no longer be sold as ‘chocolate’ in the UK.

Among those are brands such as Jacob’s Club biscuits and the iconic Penguin bars, made by McVities.

Basically, this is because the formula for the ‘chocolate’ coverings on these national favourites has been changed over time to contain less cocoa. Instead, they now have to be called ‘chocolate flavour’.

It got me thinking wistfully about our chocolatey treats of yesteryear, which ones are still available and how those have changed.

Chocolate bars from the Emma’s youth that are still being made today simply don’t measure up, with most having shrunk considerably (Image: Emma Brennan)

The ones I remember most vividly are those that were advertised on television, which follows nicely on from my column about the commercial TV ads of the 1970s and 80s.

The memories are not only due to what we saw on screen, but also the catchy tunes that accompanied them. This included: “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club.” This little ditty certainly wouldn’t flow as well if you had to add the word ‘flavour’ in there.

Then there was the rather amusing, “everyone’s a fruit and nutcase” anthem for a certain Cadbury’s favourite (probably wouldn’t be allowed today) – and who can forget the Flake advert?

This........

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