Crumbs ... it's a racist chocolate biscuit

SYDNEY - A humble chocolate and vanilla biscuit has sparked claims of racism, forcing Coles, one of Australia's leading supermarket chains, to change its name.

Coles has rejected the claims, saying Creole Creams refer to "the well-known Creole cuisine that originated in the US". However, a spokesman, Jim Cooper, said the biscuits, which are part of an in-house range, will be renamed during a company-wide re-branding exercise.

Among those offended are Sam Watson, deputy director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland.

He told a Brisbane news website: "The word Creole comes from a period when people's humanity was measured by the amount of white blood they had in their bloodstream.

"This is the same kind of thought that underpinned horrific regimes like the Nazis."

Creole was the name given to people of mixed European and African descent in the southern US. Creole cuisine originated in Louisiana, creating dishes such as jambalaya, a rich, spicy stew.

Coles has not yet revealed the new name, but Cooper defended Creole Creams. "It was certainly not intended as a racial reference, nor intended to cause offence," he said, adding that Coles had stocked the biscuits for three years and not received any complaints.