An angry shopper has accused Sainsbury's of racism after he found £3.80 tins of Jamaican fruit security tagged in a south London store.

Toby Taylor, 31, said he bet the chain 'wouldn't tag hummus' and slammed it as 'corporate racism'.

He was shopping in his local supermarket in Penge, Bromley this afternoon when he noticed a whole shelf of the delicacy had been placed in security boxes - despite being reduced and only worth £3.80.

Toby Taylor (right), 31, was shopping in his local supermarket in south London when he noticed the delicacy had been tagged (left)

Speaking to MailOnline, he said: 'Whether it was an accident or intentional, this is corporate racism at its worst.

'It's a metal can of produce that is very popular with a community that has huge issues with poor stereotypes permeated by bigoted old, white people.

WHAT IS ACKEE? Ackee is a large red tree-fruit, native to Africa and the Caribbean. It is usually imported to the UK and is sold in tins, preserved in salt fish. It is described as the 'essential ingredient' in of Jamaica's national dish Ackee & Saltfish. The edible part of the Ackee fruit resembles scrambled egg and has a similarly light texture. It can be served as a side dish or with dumplings as a hearty breakfast. Advertisement

'Why would they not put high value items in security tags, why put something so specific? It's just something very openly racist, it's subtle and frankly quite evil.

The technology director took a picture of the items and shared it to social media to complain to the company directly.

He wrote: 'Nice slab of corporate racism on offer in one of your stores today, I note that the the £20 bottles of truffle oil - that were significantly smaller may I add - had no tags whatsoever. Can you clarify your tagging policy for me? that would be great.'

A Sainsbury's representative responded by asking where the photograph was taken.

Other shoppers were divided in their response. One person wrote: 'That's racist, I've read articles about how this kind of thing is rife in the states but have never seen an actual example here. Poor show, Sainsbury's.'

While another said: 'How is this racist exactly? I don't understand.'

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: 'We take the decision on which products to tag on an individual store basis to protect high value or frequently stolen items.'