“I went to the staff at the counter to discuss this and they called their manager. He explained that it was an inverted swastika which was a Hindu symbol of health and prosperity, which is indeed right but the swastika was not inverted, and the Hindu sign includes dots within the symbol.
When I asked about the name of the drink, he said it was a play on ‘having the nuts’, meaning ‘having the courage’ and was a pun as the drink contains nuts.
I told him how offensive that was for certain people. He asked why I would find that so offensive, to which I responded that I lost my family to the Nazi regime and that despite the Hindu use of the symbol, this along with the name of the drink was extremely offensive. He said that London is a free city.
“I left the shop almost in tears and shivering as it proved to me how much antisemitism and fascism is still utterly present. That man had no shame whatsoever to tell me that I should not be offended by what I saw, when the use of the swastika and the name of that drink is clearly not a coincidence.”
Speaking about the sale of the 300ml nut based drink with the Nazi logo, Karen Pollock MBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “This ‘branding’ attached to this soft drink is offensive – it demonstrates at best, a lack of sensitivity and at worst, complete disrespect for the millions murdered during the Holocaust.”
When questioned by a Sun newspaper reporter, the shop’s manager declined to comment.
But the café’s barista John Jordan, who reportedly designed the smoothie, refused to apologise.
He said: “The Swastika was originally a Hindu symbol and ‘Nutzy’ is something that has lots of layers.
“I certainly have sympathy – but I don’t make any apology. It is something that was misunderstood.
“Of course, ‘Nutzy’ has a play on ‘Nazi’, but it can also be for ‘nuts’ or ‘courageous’. It depends how it is interpreted.”
Labour MP and chair of the all-party group against antisemitism, John Mann, also condemned the drink.
He said: “We fought a long war to stop the Swastika flying in Britain and it needs quickly removing from the shelves of this cafe.
“I suggest environmental health officers do a spot check on the hygiene of the cafe to see if there are any other nasties lurking.”
Board of Deputies of British Jews vice-president Marie van der Zyl said the café should withdraw the drink at once.
She said: “To offer this drink which features a Nazi swastika on the bottle is unbelievably ignorant and offensive and certainly leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
"The owners should withdraw it immediately and apologise to those they have upset by this provocative exercise.” The drink was later removed from the shelves in the shop.
Lorely Burt, Lib Dem Equality spokeswoman said: “This is nasty, crass and deeply offensive. At a time when hate crime is on the rise, this is particularly distasteful.”
Stephen Silverman, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It beggars belief that this shop created a Nazi-branded drink by unwitting coincidence. The Nazis murdered six million Jewish men, women and children during the Second World War as well as almost half a million people from Britain alone in the most devastating war and genocide ever committed. It was unavoidable that this would be immensely offensive to Jewish people and anyone who lost members of their family to Nazi brutality.”
A later investigation revealed that the offending labels had been removed and replaced with new ones carrying an image resembling The Pope.
In a statement on its website the shop’s founder, Ben Page-Phillips, said the employee responsible for designing the smoothie label had been fired.
Mr Page-Phillips wrote: “Sadly, an employee deemed it appropriate to put a Swastika on a smoothie named The Nutzy.
“This was unsanctioned and the bottles were removed immediately upon being alerted by our shop manager.
“Needless to say the rogue employee has been dismissed.
“This was incomprehensible, extremely insensitive, and upsetting to all of us. We unreservedly apologise.”
In another statement he added: “I cannot tell you what was going through his mind when he created the label.
“Without doubt it was a gross misjudgement of epic proportions, but I did get to know him well enough to be sure that he does not have a single ounce of malicious intent towards anyone.
"I am Nincomsoup, I am ultimately responsible, and I feel sick to the core. It's unpleasant unearthing so much hate and anger in the world when you're trying to make a difference.”
