York Hospital apology for 'very smelly' samosa sign
- Published
A hospital trust says the sign in question has been removed from York Hospital's library
A hospital has apologised after a sign in its library described South Asian snacks as "very smelly".
The sign at York Hospital, which outlined the library's food and drink policy, asked visitors not to bring in any edible items.
However, it added: "Especially not samosas, pakoras or filled chapatis as they are very smelly."
The hospital's trust said the sign was "absolutely not in line" with its values and had been removed.
The sign was photographed on Thursday and shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, the following day.
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The original post on X asked "what the need for the last sentence" was and noted that it "specifically mentioned Indian food".
The sign, viewed by more than four million people on the platform, attracted widespread criticism and was later shared by anti-racism social media pages.
A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was "truly sorry for any distress or upset" that had been caused.
"We are proud to have a diverse workforce and are committed to ensuring the experience of all our staff is positive and inclusive," the trust spokesperson said.
"We continue to educate our staff to support them in understanding the implications of actions they may take both positively and negatively."
The trust added that the sign was removed "as soon as they were made aware of it".
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