Nobody likes Spearmint Leaves

I read today that Allens has stopped making their Spearmint Leaves and green Frogs Alive. Good riddance, I say!

I've never liked either of them. Spearmint leaves tasted too much like toothpaste and the red frogs are much tastier.

Now if I only I could campaign to be rid of those horrible gummy teeth and the unnaturally yellow Bananas (incredibly, two of my husband's favourites). Bluk! I've never gone much on Minties either.

Looking through the list of Allens treats, there are a few in there I'd be sad to see go: Snakes Alive!, Killer Python, Pineapples, Strawberries and Cream, Redskins, Fantales and Freckles. 

On writing this, I was struck by the name Redskins... I thought the wrapper also used to feature the stereotypical native American Indian in full feathery headress. 

The wrapper doesn't include any pictures anymore but I wonder how the name has stuck, and not been replaced with something a little more PC. 

I have Irish ancestry, so I'm not personally affronted by it but I'm kinda surprised others haven't raised it. 

Especially given the history of Arnotts' Scallywag biscuits, which were originally named Golliwogs in the 19602 until claims of racism prompted the company to change the name in the 1990s. 

A quick Google search reveals a couple of articles about the potential racism of Redskins and Chicos (which I hadn't thought of but has been suggested as offensive to people of Latin-American descent).

I also came across an article from 2009 about another chocloate flavoured biscuit, this time Coles brand, that was called Creole Cremes and was considered offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people. The argument was that the word "Creole" was often used to describe a person of mixed European and African ancestry (the implication, I suppose, being it was a reference to the white and brown/chocolate parts of the biscuit).

And of course there were the old musk falvoured cigarettes originally named Fags in the 1940s but renamed to Fads in 1990s, when the term had become used as a homosexual slur and research showed the damaging effects smoking had on health. The name change served the dual purpose of avoiding offence and steering the product away from being seen as cigarette lollies for kids. To distance the association with smoking even further, the name was changed again in the 2000s to Fads Candy Sticks.