Candy Companies Face Heavy Scrutiny for Dropping 'Easter' From Chocolate Eggs
Chocolate giants Cadbury's, Nestle and Sainsbury's are facing heavy scrutiny for removing the word "Easter" and a Christian message typically seen on packaging to commemorate the holiday in the U.K.
"It's deeply disappointing and shameful that some of the biggest companies are censoring the countries' old tradition," David Marshall, CEO of the Meaningful Chocolate Co., a Manchester-based fair trade Christian company, was quoted as saying, according to USA Today.
Cadbury's Mini Eggs Giant Egg and Dairy Milk Buttons Egg as well as Nestle's Kit Kat Chunky Egg and Smarties Egg Hunt Pack do not have the word Easter on the front of the packaging. However, Cadbury's has a special edition of the Dairy Milk chocolate bar with "Happy Easter" on it.
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"It shows they're insensitive and uncomfortable with the Christian faith," said Marshall, whose company makes "The Real Easter Egg."
Marshall's company recently conducted a poll that showed four in five people want to keep the word Easter on their eggs, according to the Daily Mail.
"It is interesting that there seems to be a real resistance to removing the word Easter from these gifts. Perhaps people understand that the festival is religious and do not want to see it turned into something secular," Anglican Bishop Nicholas Holtam of Salisbury was quoted as saying. "Whatever the reasons it is important to remember that at Easter we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus."
"Chocolate eggs have been synonymous with Easter and the Easter story since the beginning of the last century and the association is now an automatic one," a spokesman for Nestle said, according to The Telegraph. "There has been no deliberate decision to drop the word Easter from our products and the name is still widely used at Nestle."
A Cadbury's spokeswoman said, "We do not have a policy to drop Easter from our eggs," according to Daily Star.
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said, "We sell a wide range of Sainsbury's Easter Eggs and do not have a policy relating to the word 'Easter.'"
However, Religion News Service quoted Marshall as saying, "More than 80 million chocolate Easter eggs are sold very year in the U.K., but over the past five years some manufacturers have either removed the word 'Easter' from their boxes, calling them just chocolate eggs, or reduced the word in size and put it on the back of the box."
Marshall's company also said on its website, "There have been some word of mouth reports of supermarkets having the Real Easter Egg but not having it on display. Some customers have had to wait while supermarket staff have gone to find it. So make sure you ask for the egg and if there are none in your branch, complain to customer services and ask why."
It added: "Remember that by buying your egg at a supermarket you are showing that there is a clear requirement for a fair trade Easter egg which shares the Gospel story of Easter and which raises money for charity."
