On Wednesday, the Swiss retailer Migros apologized for what officials called a string of errors that put coffee cream with the faces of the leader of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler and the Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini in cafes in the Alpine country. Migros officials promised that the company would withdraw the small pots of cream from cafes.

"We formally apologize for this inexcusable mistake," Migros announced in Zurich after the online media portal 20 Minuten reported on the controversial products. Company officials also announced that they had cut business ties with the Swiss company Karo-Versand, which supplied the packaging.

According to the retailer, a contractor was at fault

The plastic pots did not go on sale in the Migros supermarket network, but went to customers who ordered coffee creamer at about a hundred restaurants and cafes owned by the retail giant. Labels from mini cream pots have a cult following in Switzerland, with manufacturers feeding the passion of collectors by releasing regular new editions.

Karo designed the cream pots as part of a 55-label series based on vintage cigar bands from the 1930s. Those included cigar bands from before World War II that showed the faces of the Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Italian Fascist counterpart, Benito Mussolini. For his part, Karo-Versand Managing Director Peter Wälchli remained unapologetic, arguing that pictures of Hitler appear in the media all the time.

"There is no problem with the picture," the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger quoted him as saying.

mkg/sb (AFP, dpa)