Tate & Lyle defends removing Christian inspired Lion logo from its famous golden syrup in rebrand to avoid offending Gen Z shoppers

Tate & Lyle has defended removing its Christian-inspired Lion logo from its iconic golden syrup in a bid to become more appealing to Gen Z. 

The controversial new packaging has swapped the image of a dead lion being swarmed by bees with a friendly-looking lion and a single bee.

The syrup, seen as a cupboard essential for Brits, has had the same logo since 1883.

According to the company's website, Lyle had strong religious views, which is the reason why the logo depicts the story of Samson from the Old Testament. 

After Samson killed an aggressive lion, he noticed bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass.

He later turned this into a riddle: 'Out of the eater come forth meat and out of the strong came forth honey.'

Tate & Lyle used the second half of the phrase on the original branding for the golden syrup. 

One commentator claimed the new packaging was intended to draw in the 'avocado on toast' generation. 

Lyle's Golden Syrup has hit back at criticism over its modern-day shift, adding that will 'refresh the brand's legacy to appeal to a 21st century audience' and help it to become a product regular on the family breakfast table.

James Whiteley, Brand Director for Lyle's Golden Syrup, said: 'While we'll continue to honour our original branding with the heritage tin, consumers need to see brands moving with the times and meeting their current needs. 

'Our fresh, contemporary design brings Lyle's into the modern day, appealing to the everyday British household while still feeling nostalgic and authentically Lyle's.

'We're confident that the fresh new design will make it easier for consumers to discover Lyle's as an affordable, everyday treat, while reestablishing the brand as the go-to syrup brand for the modern UK family, featuring the same delicious taste that makes you feel Absolutely Golden.'

The rebrand will take place across the full product range, excluding the classic Lyle’s Golden Syrup tin, which will retain its heritage packaging.

The iconic green tin and golden lion logo holds the Guinness World Record for the world's oldest unchanged brand packaging. 

The updated branding will be rolled out to products this month and will continue throughout the year across retail and food service packs, including full-sized bottles, breakfast bottles, dessert toppings and golden syrup portions. 

The logo now appears on 'squeezy' bottles of Golden Syrup and also features at the top of the brand's website. 

The product has been used in flapjacks, rocky road and sponge puddings since the Victorian era.

Robert Bargery, Executive Director of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, told MailOnline: 'A successful brand with a solid reputation probably has more to lose than gain by going for a new logo. 

'The redrawn lion is so stylised as to lack clarity at first glance, whereas the old lion is clearly a lion: it is what it looks like on the tin. 

'But who knows, Golden Syrup may soon be as stigmatised as cigarettes, so the lively re-brand of a dead lion may excite a sugar-rush among the avocado-on-toast generation.'

Golden Syrup's creator, Abram Lyle, was a religious man and decided to include a Christian analogy on its tins. 

The Book of Judges details Samson killed a lion with his bare hands before returning to the carcass a few days later to find a swarm of bees had created a hive in its body.

In the story, Samson then took honey from the hive, and fed it to his parents without telling them where he got the honey from.

He later asks guests at his wedding to solve the riddle: 'Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet'. 

A version of the riddle, 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness' was chosen for the logo of Lyle's Golden Syrup and it has remained on the tins ever since. 

Dan Barker called Golden Syrup's rebrand a 'rare example where they've kept the elements from the original (a dead lion, being eaten by bees), yet still made it worse'.  

Ian Mansfield, who runs the ianVisits website, tweeted: 'And in the Gospel of St Marketing, the peoples of the land of kitchen, having worshipped the everlasting sign of the Golden Syrup, shall turn unto a new god, a new logo is revealed, and great lamentation was heard throughout the land. Oh, syrup, why hast thou forsaken us?'

Tate and Lyle Sugars was sold to US firm American Sugar Refining in 2010.