Sleuth shopper exposes reality behind Woolies 'carrot' cake

A woman has shared her outrage over a popular Woolworths dessert after discovering the sweet treat’s namesake was barely present in the product.

The offending item is none other than the retailer’s standard carrot cake.

A staple of Australian baking (or buying) tradition, the dessert has long earned praise for its moisture, texture and taste.

“Great size. Nice size cake to share when visiting my parents,” is just one of many rave reviews that pepper the afternoon tea treat’s product site.

Most Aussies will recognise the cake as a mainstay at church fêtes, ‘bring a plate’ events, and cake stalls.

For one woman, however, years of familiarity paled in the face of the cake’s ingredient list, which upon closer inspection betrays a shocking formula very light on carrot. In fact, only three percent of the entire cake is actually made of carrot.

Exposing the ‘carrot’ in carrot cake

Taking to the retailer’s Facebook page, the horrified shopper shared her thoughts on the deceptive title and contents of the dessert.

“I recently bought one of your ‘carrot cakes’,” the review read. “I thought it didn’t taste at all of the carrots and I could only see tiny flecks of orange in it, which might have been carrot-related.”

Not one to take orange flecks at face value, the woman dived into the nitty-gritty of the ingredients list and emerged with a surprising find.

The carrot cake we know and love can barely be called ‘carrot-adjacent’, or even ‘carrot-associated’, let alone ‘carrot cake’.

“I checked the ingredients list and note that it only contains 3 per cent carrot,” she revealed, adding illustrative images to make her point.

“In a 300g cake, this equates to 9g or about three thin slices of carrot PER CAKE, or half a thin slice of carrot per serve of cake.”

Woolworths did release a defence, of sorts, telling the Daily Mail that their cakes are subject to ‘rigorous customer testing’ and have never been received with anything other than satisfaction.

Some did point out as a dessert, the operative of the gateau was hardly to deliver a nutritious serving of carrots, going so far as to label the complaint ‘pathetic’.

“Make it yourself ...I think we all know that there is no nutritional value in a Woolies cake,” one woman advised.

Looks like the vegetable-minded will have to include a side serve of greens to their carrot cake going forward.

All we know is it has us seriously reconsidering our relationship with banana bread.

Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Or sign up to our daily newsletter here.