Tunnock's unwraps purple teacakes to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer

Tunnocks sales manager Fergus Loudon, left, and Murray Easton, head of fundraising at PCS. Picture: Contributed

The Uddingston baker has released a limited edition batch of the iconic teatime treats wrapped in purple rather than the brand’s traditional red and silver foil.

A total of 28 boxes, holding 1,008 teacakes, has been donated to Pancreatic Cancer Scotland (PCS), which Tunnock’s has supported for the past three years.

The colour purple is associated with pancreatic cancer across the globe and on Thursday 21 November Scottish landmarks will be lighting up purple to help shine a light on the cause for World Pancreatic Cancer Day. In previous years the Kelpies in Falkirk and Edinburgh Castle have adopted the colour.

Sir Boyd Tunnock, owner of confectioner Tunnock's. Picture: John Devlin

Around 800 people in Scotland are diagnosed each year with the illness, which has one of the lowest survival rates of all major cancers.

Tunnock’s sales manager Fergus Loudon said: “We’ve had members of staff affected by pancreatic cancer. We wanted to do all we could to help increase awareness.”

Fiona Brown, development manager of PCS, added: “Many of our supporters and fundraisers will be enjoying some of these purple-wrapped treats with their tea.

“Using the colour purple is an effective way of starting conversations about pancreatic cancer – people talk about why landmarks are lit purple, share pictures on social media and this helps support much needed awareness for a disease that’s been left in the dark for too long.

"We would love to see lots more purple in Scotland this November and encourage people to reach out to local landmarks and businesses to ask for their support."