Campaigners Accuse These ‘Distressing’ Sweets of Stigmatising Mental Illness

As anyone who has ever violently stress-kneaded a lump of bread dough and felt so much better afterwards will know, cooking can be beneficial to mental wellbeing. Preparing a home cooked meal is seen by some mental health professionals as a therapeutic act, one that can promote mindfulness and even ease the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

But not all associations between mental health and food are positive. This week, British discount chain Poundland was accused of stigmatising mental illness with a bag of sweets.

"Nutters" are M&M-like chocolate-covered peanuts, currently sold in over 800 Poundland stores across the UK with packaging that features cross-eyed cartoon characters. On its website, the store describes them as treat to "enjoy with friends and family through movie night, treat night, in the car, and much more!"

Mental health campaigners, however, do not enjoy the sweets' name or packaging. Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat MP whose son suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, told The Sun that the product should be pulled from shelves. He said: "There is a stigma attached to mental health and we need to be careful about the way we talk about it. The product needs to be quickly withdrawn from sale and Poundland needs to apologise."

Mental health professionals and charities have also voiced their concern over the sweets' branding. Psychologist Dr. Rick Norris told The Sun that it implied that mental health issues were "not a serious thing" and Sophie Dix from the MQ: Transforming Mental Health charity said: "Such offensive language and distressing imagery is a real step backwards."

Poundland is hardly the first company to be accused of trivialising mental illness. Nutters joins a long line of misjudged products, including "OCD" hand sanitiser, t-shirts emblazoned with the word "psycho," and mental patient Halloween costumes. A Poundland spokeswoman told the Evening Standard that the sweets were currently being "assessed," and added: "These nut chocolate bags have been a popular item over the last 12 months but we are saddened to hear that the item has caused offence. We take all feedback on board and have committed to assessing this line at its next formal review."

Maybe it's best to stick with original M&M's after all.