(WAND) - Trader Joe's announced Monday it will rename international food products some have called offensive.
NBC News reports the company was recently criticized for how it labeled "international" foods, with names like "Trader Jose's" and "Trader Ming's." An online petition with several thousand signatures had called for the removal of "racist packaging."
The author of this petition said the "Trader Ming's" label “belies a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.”
“The Trader Joe’s branding is racist because it exoticizes other cultures — it presents “Joe” as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it — they are ‘Arabian Joe,’ ‘Trader José,’ and ‘Trader Joe San,” the petition added.
"While this approach to product-naming may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness, we recognize that it may now have the opposite effect — one that is contrary to the welcoming, rewarding customer experience we strive to create every day,” said Trader Joe's public relations leader Kenya Friend-Daniel to New York Times.
The company had decided "several years ago" to give all of its products the Trader Joe's name, according to Friend-Daniel, and is working to change the names that have been seen as offensive.
NBC News did not immediately receive a response from the company when it reached out for comment Monday.
This decision follows Quaker Oats' call to rename its Aunt Jemima brand. Rice product Uncle Ben's will also go through a name and packaging change.
