No Blessings for 'Virgin Mary' potato crisps of Pret A Manger

The UK based sandwich chain Pret A Manger has caved into religious protests and withdrawn its new Virgin Mary potato crisps.

The own-brand variety was pulled from the shelves after a campaign led by the Catholic organisation Protect the Pope. Catholics had complained the name was offensive because of the reference to Christ’s mother, despite it also being the common name for the non-alcoholic version of the Bloody Mary cocktail.

Pret A Manger’s chief executive, Clive Schlee, initially defended the name of the crisps but gave the order to withdraw them after more complaints were received.

Unopened bags of Virgin Mary crisps, advertised as “flavoured with Worcestershire sauce and chilli”, will be given to charities for the homeless.

The company said: “We have received calls regarding a new range of crisps we launched this week. We don’t want to offend a single customer, so we have responded immediately and taken them out of our shops.” The launch was limited to London