Burton's pours more chocolate on its Wagon

Wagon Wheels, the iconic snack beloved of football fans in the 1970s, are to be relaunched this autumn with a new recipe and more chocolate.

Wagon Wheels, the iconic snack beloved of football fans in the 1970s, are to be relaunched this autumn with a new recipe and more chocolate.

The revamp is part of a shake-up of the portfolio of Wagon Wheels' maker Burton's Foods, which will also see changes to the recipe for Jammie Dodgers to make them more healthy.

The reformulation of Wagon Wheels will include replacing the chocolate-flavoured coating of the biscuit with real chocolate, adding a chocolate filling and replacing the current cinnamon flavoured biscuit with a chocolate one. The jam-filled version will also be covered with real chocolate, while a food additive called carmoisine has been removed from the jam.

The change to Jammie Dodgers - another 1970s favourite - is less radical. However, it is aimed at addressing worries about the level of additives and salt in children's food and drink. Burton's has removed carmoisine from the Jammie Dodgers jam, but was worried this would mean the loss of its distinctive red colour. So it will be using a natural alternative called carnatho, which will be a little paler. This will be accompanied by a 50 per cent reduction in salt content.

The new, healthier Jammie Dodgers will be in the shops next month. The Wagon Wheel relaunch is to be backed by an advertising campaign that aims to put the biscuit back on the menu of football fans up and down the country.

The changes are the first major moves by Burton's since the Blackpool company was bought by US venture capital firm Hicks Muse Tate & Furst three years ago. Hicks Muse is a big fan of food businesses. Last month it floated one of its stable, Premier Foods, on the London Stock Exchange.