British supermarket chain Morrisons has caved to a Remainer Twitter mob and changed its packaging of £4 roast-in-the-bag British chicken it advertised as made with ‘non-EU salt and pepper’.
Morrisons was accused by left-wing Brexit-haters of using ‘anti EU’ messaging on their labels. This was’so terrible and downright frightening’ that some threatened to boycott the company.
The supermarket chain responded to the panic by issuing a profuse apology and promising to ‘change the packaging immediately’.
It is understood that the wording was caused by a misinterpretation of post-Brexit food packaging and labelling regulations.
One Remainer posted a photo of the chicken and tweeted in disbelief: ‘Tell me Morrisons that this is not real. Your response will dictate whether or not I ever shop at your stores again.’
British supermarket chain Morrisons has caved to a Remainer Twitter mob and changed its packaging of £4 roast-in-the-bag British chicken it advertised as made with ‘non-EU salt and pepper’
Left-wing Brexit-haters accused Morrisons of using ‘anti-EU’ messaging on their labels which was ‘so awful and downright scary’ that some even threatened to boycott the company
Responding to the hysteria, the supermarket chain issued a grovelling apology and vowed it would be ‘changing the packaging immediately’, calling the original wording of the label ‘an error’
Another social media user thundered: ‘I’m done with shopping @Morrisons. I can live with union flags on bananas, but the gratuitous slight on the EU is too much’.
A third piped up: ‘This surely is photoshopped! If not then this is so awful and downright scary. Please clarify what on earth where you thinking when you decided on that label?’
‘Could you imagine a French supermarket selling salt & vinegar crisps with ‘Non-British salt’ emblazoned across it? No, I can’t either, because they’re not as obsessed with non-existent threats from abroad as we seem to be,’ another Brexit-hater wrote on social media.
In a statement matching its Twitter apology, a Morrisons spokesman told MailOnline: ‘The wording on the packaging is an error for which we apologise. We are changing the packaging immediately.’
In January, an advert for the British supermarket chain’s unsalted butter was branded a ‘UKIP advert’ by social media users earlier this year because it was branded with the Union Jack.
One Remainer posted the photo of the chicken, and tweeted in disbelief: Tell me Morrisons that it isn’t real. Your response will determine whether I shop at your stores again.
Morrisons, which was founded in 2002, recently agreed to a £7billion takeover by American financial firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), is not the first supermarket to come under fire over Brexit-related packaging disputes.
In January last year, Co-op’s decision to brand its bags of ice as ‘British’ came under similar fire on social media.
Twitter exploded after a picture of an ice cube bag purchased from a supermarket bore the words “made with British water” above a British flag.
Co-op was less concerned about the reaction and responded to the criticism online with a tongue-in-cheek reply.
A Co-op spokesperson explained: “Sorry if our ice cups have caused a little chill on Twitter. However, our labelling policy ensures that we always provide information about the country origin of any main ingredient in any product. This includes the water in our cubes.
“We hope that our customers are cool with this.”