Sainsbury's and M&S relegate 'Easter' from chocolate eggs

A growing number of Britain's biggest shops and food manufacturers are selling Easter eggs without the word "Easter" on them. 

It has emerged that retailers including M&S and Sainsbury's are now selling chocolate Eggs which are only available over the Easter period, but which contain no obvious religious reference. 

It comes as the National Trust and Cadbury have been accused of "airbrushing faith" over their decision to remove the word "Easter" from the name of an annual egg hunt.

In previous years the event, which invites children to hunt for eggs at National Trust sites has been called an "Easter Egg Trail". This year it has been rebranded as "Cadbury's Great British Egg Hunt" as Cadbury's admitted it wants its Easter themed confectionery to appeal to non Christians.

Last year Cadbury and Nestle sparked controversy over the apparent disappearance of the word “Easter” from the front of Easter egg packs. At the time Cadbury's insisted that it had not banned the word – just relegated it to the back.

A spokeswomen for Mondelez, the parent company of Cadbury, said: "We have no policy to drop the word Easter from our eggs nor our marketing. Easter is still stated on our Easter Eggs on the back of pack."

Now M&S is selling a "Nutty Surprise" eg which is described as a "hollow milk chocolate egg studded with salted caramelized peanuts."

A spokesman declined to disclose when the retailer took the decision to sell seasonal eggs with no prominent mention of Easter on packs. 

Also on offer from Sainsbury's is a "milk chocolate egg with mint jelly beans". It also has no mention of Easter on the front of the pack, with the word hidden only on the back in small lettering. 

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: “We sell a wide range of Sainsbury’s Easter Eggs and do not have a policy relating to the word ‘Easter’.”