A bakery in north Yorkshire has faced backlash online after a photo of its gender-neutral "Ginger Persons" cookies was circulated online.
The family-run Thomas the Baker bakery, came under fire from online commentors after a customer posted a picture of the biscuits, traditionally known as gingerbread men.
The image was originally posted on Facebook by Demii-Leigh Heffron, with the caption: "It's happening. it's actually happening. It's 2018. Stop the earth, I wanna get off".
The picture then circulated on Twitter, with one user writing: "Gingerbread men being changed to Ginger ‘persons’ people need to get a grip, most ridiculous thing I’ve seen ahahaha".
Another posted: "As a ginger “Man” myself I don’t not agree with this. It should be called a strawberry blonde biscuit."
'Sorry to disappoint you all'
However, the bakery has said the gingerbread cookies have been called "Ginger Persons" since 1983, and were not renamed in a move to be more inclusive.
In a tweet, the bakery said: "Sorry to disappoint you all - they have been Ginger Persons since 1983! It was chosen by one of our Managers in York and the name stuck.
"We did get a complaint from trading standards in the 80's that we were discriminating against ginger haired people - seriously!!".
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