I'm not sure what to say here... mostly because topics of this nature are really hard to phrase without sounding like you're a terrible person. But here I go: Coon Cheese, the processed sliced cheese that's a staple of Australian lunches, has come under fire because of its name.
I ran across this cheese a few years ago and had a quick giggle ('bout the same giggle as "tinned spotted dick" earned). But I kind of assumed that "coon" was not a bad word in Australian english because...well, that cheese has been around for a while and still sells off the shelves of respectable supermarkets. I guess I'm not up on my Australian racial slurs or current environment of racial equality/inequality. Here's a quick summary of the name debate from NBR.
Oddly enough this isn't the only racial food issue I've run across in the last week. A large number of mom-bloggers are getting riled up about the commercials championing high fructose corn syrup. For health reasons? Sure. (yes, i do have the facts) But the real rise comes from feelings that racial overtones are present in one of the commercials. See the commercial here. Black moms apparently have no problem feeding kids jugs o' sugar water. Does seem amusingly close to Dave Chapelle's grape drink riff...