Blackpool baker resolves backlash against ‘non-binary’ gingerbread people
A bakery boss has hit back after being criticized for selling ‘non-binary gingerbread people’ instead of gingerbread men.
Paul Owner, who runs the Cottage Bakery in Blackpool, says it took three years for people to even notice the change.
The cookie’s gender identity drew mixed response when a photo was posted on Facebook, with some supporting the decision and others dismissing it as part of the ‘woke agenda’.
The message – subtitled “Non-binary gingerbread people? What is it really ? – generated thousands of shares and comments.
But despite the “mental” response, Paul revealed that he had been selling non-binary gingerbreads for years without anyone noticing.
Bakeries had to start rigorously labeling their products when “Natasha’s Law” was tabled in parliament in 2019.
It required all companies to provide full ingredient and allergen labeling on prepackaged foods for direct sale.
The law came after the tragic death of Natasha Ednan-Laperousea teenager who died of an allergic reaction to a Prêt à Manger baguette.
Labels were put on Cottage Bakery’s gingerbreads, but it wasn’t until three years later that Paul and the bakery received backlash.
He said: ‘We started putting labels on them before Covid but we had people coming in and saying it was wrong and they weren’t men.
“So I had a conversation with my printer about it and he was like, ‘Why don’t you call them non-binary?
“I thought it would be funny and that’s how it happened, but it took three years for someone to make a big deal out of it.
“The tag 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 exposed 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 meant to be ‘politically correct’ and some people luckily took it as a joke.”
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