A bakery boss has been trolled after a picture of his non-binary gingerbread biscuits went viral online.
Paul Cook added packaging labels to comply with a law on ingredient and allergen labelling on pre-packed foods, and included the gender-neutral title on the baked treats.
But social media erupted this week after a customer posted a photo of the biscuits - labelled Non-binary Gingerbread People - from The Cottage Bakery in Blackpool, Lancashire.
The post - captioned ‘A non binary gingerbread people? What it’s really come to?’ - has generated thousands of shares and comments.
Some called the packaging a ‘woke agenda’, while one user said: “Absolute madness. Won’t even be able call it gingerbread soon in case it offends gingers.”
However others mocked the outrage, with one user asking: “What is worse: A gingerbread that doesn’t have a gender or people getting angry about a gingerbread that doesn’t have a gender? Who cares?”
Bemused boss Paul said the biggest shock is that it’s taken people three years to notice the change.
He says the bakery has been selling gingerbread biscuits for 20 years, but they had to begin labelling their products when ‘Natasha’s Law’ was laid in Parliament in 2019.
It followed the tragic death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, a teenager who died after suffering an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette.
The law, which came into effect in October 2021, requires all businesses to provide full ingredient and allergen labelling on foods which are pre-packed for direct sale.
Paul said: “We began putting labels on them before Covid, but we had people coming in and saying it was wrong and they were not men.
“So I had a chat with my printer about and he said, ‘Why don’t you call them non-binary?’
“That’s how it came about, but it’s taken three years for someone to make a big deal of it.
“The label is on the back so they can’t see it when it’s on the counter, and most people ask for a gingerbread man.”
“It wasn’t until the labels were on show that people started making silly comments.
“It was done as a bit of a laugh because of people’s comments in the first place.
“It wasn’t done to be politically correct… and some people have thankfully taken it as a joke”.
