UK's favourite biscuit has had a makeover with mixed opinions over new Pink Digestive with raspberry and cream-flavour coating

The humble Digestive - a bastion of biscuit barrels for over a century - is getting a makeover, in taste and appearance, for a special new line. Manufacturer McVitie's has unveiled a new Pink Digestive variant, set to hit supermarket shelves across the UK in July.

However, crunch cravers who can't wait to get their hands on the new-look snack - which is raspberry and cream flavoured - can pick them up right now, exclusively at Sainsbury's stores, before they are more widely available from July 21.

The new Digestive, which comes hot on the heels of the 100th anniversary celebrations for Chocolate Digestives, is branded a "fruity reinvention" by the firm and sees the basic biscuit topped with a smooth raspberry and cream-flavour coating.

McVitie’s marketing director, Benazir Barlet-Batada, said the company wanted to continue the Digestives' chocolate cousin's birthday celebrations by doing something special for its big brother.

"As we continue to celebrate 100 years of McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives, we wanted to mark the next chapter in our history by reinventing the nation’s favourite," they said. "Fun, fresh and packed with fruity flavour, the new Pink Digestives are designed to delight devoted Digestives fans and foodies alike."

Responses to the news of the new take on the classic biccie have been mixed. Feedback on a Facebook post to the Bargain Lovers & Deals page ranged from "omg" with a heart eyes emoji and "They look yummy", to "Sounds extremely sickly" and simply, "Yuk!".

However, others were happy to sit on the fence, with one commenter remarking, "I don’t know how I feel about this!".

News of the Digestive biscuits ‘glow up’ follows the release of a new flavour of Jammy Dodgers, with a mango and passionfruit option also splitting opinion among the country’s biscuit connoisseurs. The new taste is available now - and crunch-crazy snackers have reacted in varying ways, with some loving the new taste, while others have spoken of their disgust.

"(I) wish they would just stick to original," wrote one food fan on social media, while another said simply: "Oh yum." Another biscuit buyer said they "need to get these", but another branded the snack, "tasteless".

Undeterred, a spokesperson for Fox Burton's, the company behind the iconic snack, said they were confident confectionery lovers will snap up the new flavour. "We are very excited about these new flavours and expect them to do well in market," they told The Sun.

The mango and passionfruit variation is one of many Jammie Dodgers treats on sale now, including cherry, apple and blackcurrant, and strawberry. And it comes after a reissued banana-flavoured biscuit provoked a similar mixed reaction last year.

Having been first issued in 2022 on the back of Minions movie, The Rise of Gru, the banana brand was later removed from shelves - but is now back in stock. Others tried in the past include cherry and apple.

Jammie Dodgers became a UK favourite after first being produced by the Crumpsall Biscuit Works, part of the Co-operative Society, 60 years ago. They were named after Roger the Dodger, from the Beano comic.