Australian food company to finally rename its racially offensive cheese brand

An Australian cheese brand by the name of Coon is set to change its name in order to eliminate racism -- in the aftermath of a campaign stating the product name was offensive to Aboriginal Australians.

Saputo, the dairy company that owns Coon, announced on Friday that it would retire the Coon brand name. This comes after a decades-long effort to rename the cheese, including an unsuccessful 1999 complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Indigenous activist Dr Stephen Hagan.

Coon came under fresh scrutiny over racial connotations in recent months as the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum in Australia. 

The brand, which was first sold in 1935, had named the cheese after American cheesemaker Edward William Coon, who, according to the brand’s website, “patented a unique ripening process” used to make the dairy product.

A new name for Coon has not yet been decided.