Morrisons has apologised after facing threats of a boycott from some Twitter users for labelling a chicken product as containing “non-EU salt and pepper”.

The Union flag also appears on the packaging, which highlights that the product is made from “British chicken”

People on social media were quick to call out the supermarket, claiming the packaging for the salt and pepper chicken crown was an anti-EU statement.

A tweet from David Bright said: “I’m done with shopping @Morrisons… I can live with Union flags on bananas, but the gratuitous slight on the EU is too much.”

In another tweet, Robin Wilton, described the packaging as “small-minded” and “populist-pandering bigotry that’s just cost you a customer”.

Morrisons tweeted that “the wording on the packaging is an error for which we apologise” and told customers it was changing the packaging straight away.

A spokeswoman said: “Our chicken label is adhering to British packaging regulations, however, we will be redesigning it to make it clear this is not a political commentary.”

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For meat products where full country information is not available, government guidance says the words “non-EU” should be used to describe its origin.

Post-Brexit regulation changes, due to be implemented next October, will see the phrase “non-EU” replaced with “non-UK”.

Morrisons was recently bought for £7bn by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice but the UK competition watchdog said last week that it is looking into the deal.

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