Cadbury's forced to correct furious 'bigots' after fake 'halal Easter egg' claims

Easter: Cadbury's eggs are at a heart of a row over halal: Getty Images
Easter: Cadbury's eggs are at a heart of a row over halal: Getty Images

Cadbury’s has been forced to respond to a barrage of complaints from angry customers over fake reports claiming chocolate Easter eggs have been made halal.

Far-right groups urged people to boycott the iconic chocolate brand after a photo posted online appeared to show a Cadbury’s rep with a certificate confirming all their chocolate was halal.

Since the picture - which is reportedly unrelated to the UK market - emerged, scores of furious people have slammed the chocolate maker for “ruining Easter” and pledged to “only buy Lindt”.

The ill-informed customers have accused Cadbury’s of changing their chocolate recipe to “appease Muslims”, without realising the sweet treat is naturally halal.

Halal food must be prepared in accordance with Islamic law by following rules of how animals should be slaughtered.

Staff at Cadbury’s have spent hours on social media correcting a frenzy of outraged Brits.

Kev Maule said on Facebook: “All these chocolate companies can stick their products where the sun don’t shine, if they aren’t changing the recipe to suit Muslims they are putting their prices up, blaming Brexit or shrinking their products to mere mouthfuls.”

Anita Wilson said online: “Bloody disgusting, love Cadbury’s chocolate but won’t eat it now on principle” while Carrie Moose Aggas said: “I won’t buy it now. Fed up with people interfering with our traditions.”

Many customers also accused the company of removing the word Easter from their eggs, which Cadbury's denied.

A spokesperson for Mondelez, the company which owns Cadbury’s, said they welcome consumers “of all faiths and none” and pointed out that chocolate does not contain meat. They told the Standard that the photo circulating online is not from the UK.

Their statement read: “In the UK our chocolate products are suitable for vegetarians and those following a halal diet, however they are not Halal certified.

“As our chocolate products do not contain meat, the ritual of halal does not apply and in the UK carry no halal certifications of any kind.

The Mondelez International factory in India, which produces Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate. (AFP/Getty Images)
The Mondelez International factory in India, which produces Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate. (AFP/Getty Images)

“The only animal related products we use in our British chocolate are milk and eggs. We take care to point out if and when our products are suitable for certain sections of society who take an interest in the ingredients and manufacturing process.

“Elsewhere in the world, we may label products with any number of certifications based on consumer interest and dietary requirements, and the best place for consumers to find that information is on the product label in that country.

“However, Cadbury welcomes consumers of all faiths and none.”

Many other people ridiculed those who had taken offence calling them "bigots" or "morons" for not realising chocolate is naturally halal.

Lucia Widdop said on Twitter: “People boycotting Cadbury’s because Creme Eggs are halal, of course they are they don’t contain meat you doughnuts!”

Jamilla said: “Cadbury’s is halal. The same way water, pasta and bouncy castles are halal.”