Marks and Spencer has changed the recipe of its popular Percy Pig sweets to make them suitable for vegetarians, however some disgruntled shoppers claim they now taste like washing-up liquid.
The retail chain has removed gelatine, an ingredient derived from animal bones, from Percy Pigs, prompting some to accuse M&S of caving in to the 'veggie brigade'.
The product was introduced in 1992 and gained a cult-like following among shoppers, with 250,000 people following an appreciation page on Facebook .
Laura Knowles posted on the M&S Facebook page: “They are NOT THE SAME!!! Not even nearly. Even my five-year-old was not fooled.
"What on earth was wrong with veggie Percy [introduced in 2011] and normal Percy… we've tried the veggie option (in our own pursuit of eco-friendliness) and quite quickly returned to the delicious silky squishiness of the much-loved gelatine-based Percy Pig.
"So please, in the interest of the British nation, I beg you, bring back Percy."
Matt Jackson added: “Why do your Percy Pigs taste like washing-up liquid and have such a strange texture? Really disappointed as they’re basically inedible.”
David Sheehan, 52, said: “Percy Pigs tasted fine before. Why did they change them for the veggie brigade?”
However, M&S said: “After a lot of hard work — and tasting — we’ve finally perfected a 100 per cent vegetarian Percy, something our customers have been asking us for, for a while!
“Percy is as close to the original as possible. We haven’t changed any of the really important things that people love about Percy. The flavour is the same.”
One customer added that he could not taste any difference in the sweets and said he supported the change as it would help the environment.
Source: Read Full Article