A "racist" biscuit is to be taken off Australian supermarket shelves but its creator insists the move is part of a brand overhaul rather than a response to accusations of bigotry.
Creole Creams are chocolate biscuits with white cream filling, similar to the popular US cookie Oreos.
Deputy director of the University of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies unit Sam Watson told brisbanetimes.com.au that the biscuit name had echoes of Nazism.
"The word Creole comes from a period when people's humanity was measured by the amount of white blood they had in their bloodstream," he was quoted as saying.
"This is the same kind of thought that underpinned horrific regimes like the Nazis."
Creole is a word used for mixed race — usually of mixed European and black descent — but it also describes cuisine from the US state of Louisiana.
Coles spokesman Jim Cooper told ninemsn the product was about to undergo a packaging redesign that would also cause a rebranding.
“The biscuits in question were named in reference to the well-known Creole cuisine style that originated in the US," he said.
"It was certainly not intended as a racial reference, nor intended to cause offence and we’ve not had any complaints about the name in the three years the product has been on our shelves."
The renaming process is already in the pipeline with thousands of products being rebadged as part of the overhaul.
The response to the claims of racism have been mixed with some in the blogosphere claiming that it is political correctness gone mad.
"Racism in a biscuit... now I've seen everything," wrote one person on Twitter.
Another called for other sweets to be banned: "Creole Creams are racist, I say Redskins, Chicos and Eskimo Pies are too."
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