KEY POINTS

  • The Cadbury UK Twitter account mistakenly told people the wrong pronunciation of Creme Egg.
  • In March 2017, Cadbury spent a day explaining why it is okay that their products are halal.

Cadbury has managed to confuse a lot of people this week by tweeting the wrong pronunciation of the iconic Easter treat Creme Egg - while they are also being forced to explain why their chocolate is halal.

The Cadbury UK Twitter account caused shock on Tuesday (20 February) when it replied to the question: "Are you meant to pronounce Creme Egg as cream or crem?" The official account replied: "Pronounced as crem :)"

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The Cadbury tweet has since been deleted, after confusion and outrage over the supposed pronunciation went viral. Just over two hours after posting their initial reply, Cadbury wrote this instead: "It's definitely pronounced as Cream!"

But the damage was done and even BBC Breakfast's Dan Walker got in on it, tweeting: "What is happening here? The walls are falling in! Crem Egg? This can't be true."

In just one of many corrections they have issued over the past day, Cadbury UK replied: "Looks like we missed out the 'a' there! Most definitely pronounced as 'Cream' egg!" Walker was relieved to hear it, saying "all is right with the world again".

Countless others were outraged by the initial pronunciation ruling, and Cadbury was forced to continue replying to Twitter users on Wednesday morning to correct their mistake. After Wire FM accused the "work experience kid" of taking over Cadbury's Twitter feed, they replied: "Sometimes our eggcitement just gets too much and our letters get scrambled. Creme Egg is pronounced 'Cream' Egg! You know this." People even asked Krispy Kreme how to pronounce their brand name, in the hope of clearing things up further.

Cadbury has also been forced to reply to people demanding to know if their chocolate is halal. Halal means food or drink that is permissible by Islamic law, but is often used by non-Muslims specifically to refer to meat prepared in a certain way. Some take offence at halal meat because it must traditionally be blessed and killed by hand without being stunned first, which can be seen as more cruel to the animals.

Asked on Twitter on Monday if it is true that Cadbury chocolate is halal, the company said: "In [the] UK our chocolate is suitable for vegetarians & those following a Muslim diet, however they're not Halal certified. The only animal related products we use in UK are milk & eggs. We point out if & when our products are suitable for particular requirements or not." Cadbury sent a similar response to another user one day earlier.

An online food guide which helps Muslims eat halal lists 66 Cadbury products as being permissible.

The tweets threatened to signal the return of a furious "fake news" row which took place in March 2017 over halal Cadbury products. A photo of a man holding halal certificates in front of a Cadbury sign while holding Cadbury chocolate bars was shared on Twitter, leading to people accusing the company of "Muslim appeasement" and some, including the English Defence League through its Facebook page, even threatening to boycott the brand.

Cadbury was forced to tell people repeatedly that their products are indeed suitable for those following a halal diet, but only in the same way as foods like bread or water.

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