BREAD firm Warburtons found themselves at the centre of a social media storm over a halal label on the bakery's products.

Labels on the much-loved loaves state the bread is both halal and kosher.

The bread has always been halal and has been certified for the last two-and-a-half years.

But when one customer saw the label he wrote on Twitter: “Warburtons bread is now halal certified – why do 96 per cent of population have to have Islamic halal put onto them in their lives and effectively overriding their own religions just because 4 per cent want it?”

His tweet prompted both negative and positive responses, with one user writing: “Paul you will not become a Muslim by eating something halal. It does not work like that. How is your faith overridden by a label on a loaf of bread?”

Warburtons - which has a huge bakery in Burnley - cleared up confusion in a statement, saying that nothing has changed in the bread making process, and it has always been suitable for halal diets.

A spokesman for Warburtons said: “At Warburtons, we care about providing our consumers with a choice of quality products that suit varying lifestyle needs. Over two years ago, a range of our products were officially certified as vegan, vegetarian, halal and kosher. This doesn’t mean doing anything differently to what we have always done, it just means making it easier for consumers to buy our products with confidence.”

There is nothing in the bread that is meat derived.

A flour treatment agent called E920 is used in some baked goods, which is synthetically produced through natural fermentation using raw materials of vegetable origin or pure organic, non animal, compounds.

The halal certificate means that the ingredients have been checked and pass as halal.

In Islam, halal simply means a food product is permissible, which also applies to fruit, vegetables, non-alcohol based products and more.