Food brands Mrs. Butterworth’s and Cream of Wheat have announced that they will be reviewing their packaging in an effort to combat “racial bias” and no longer “inadvertently contribute to systemic racism.”
“We understand that our actions help play an important role in eliminating racial bias and as a result, we have begun a complete brand and packaging review on Mrs. Butterworth’s,” Conagra wrote.
Also on Wednesday, Cream of Wheat’s parent company, BG Foods, released its own statement about the brand’s Black cook mascot, which was initially called Rastus, a Black stereotype often used in minstrel shows, but was later replaced by the likeness of Frank L. White.
BG Foods said they “are initiating an immediate review of the Cream of Wheat brand packaging.”
Aunt Jemima’s parent company, Quaker Foods North America, led the charge on Wednesday with their statement that the packaging for the syrup and pancake mix brand ― which features a Black woman named Aunt Jemima, a caricature taken from a minstrel song ― presents “a racial stereotype.”
