Lidl says sorry for removing crosses from Greek churches on packaging

Supermarket chain Lidl has apologized for airbrushing Christian crosses out of images of the Greek island of Santorini on some of its food packaging, after being hit by criticism on social media.

The packaging of the Greek-themed Eridanous products, which include olive oil, Greek spice mixtures and baklava sweet pastries, depicts images of Santorini's domed blue churches, but they are missing the crosses mounted on top.

"We are sorry for any offense caused by the artwork on our Eridanous range. We can confirm that we will be revising the design as soon as possible," the German discounter said in a statement.

Lidl said its product design was not intended to convey any ideological standpoint.

"We made a mistake in the most recent revision of the product design and are now treating the issue with the highest priority," Lidl said.

The images...