Haribo urged to stop selling 'racist' black face sweets

Haribo has been forced to stop selling ‘racist’ sweets after a social media outcry.

17:49 22 January 2015

Sweets company Haribo has been criticised for selling “racist” sweets which “depict primitive African, Asian, or Native American by art” following complaints by customers in Scandinavia.

The confectionery manufacturer was forced to stop selling black liquorice faces from the Skipper Mix bagged sweets sold in Denmark.

However, the company said that the product had no “negative connotations.”

"We decided that we could keep the product while removing the parts that certain consumers found offensive," Head of Haribo Sweden Ola Dagliden told AFP.

"It wasn't something we saw as having negative connotations."

One Danish user, Saam Kapadia, wrote: "Multiculturalism, colonial legacy or the slave trade? #haribo skipper mix makes me think about Denmark and my Danish heritage."

The company also decided to remove the picture of the sweets from the Haribo Sweden website.

A company spokesman said: "We have received both internal and external criticism of the picture and have now chosen to withdraw the catalogue from our stores."