Nestle has issued an apology for a tweet linking the 43 missing trainee teachers believed to have been massacred in south-west Mexico to its Crunch brand.

According to Mexican authorities, students from the town of Ayotzinapa were abducted and murdered by corrupt police and a local drugs gang. Their remains were then burned.

Friday’s (11 November) revelations have provoked a political storm in Mexico – where President Enrique Pena Nieto took office two years ago under promises to combat organised crime – and made headlines around the world.

On Sunday, a tweet published from a Mexican account for Nestle’s Crunch brand read: “A los de Ayotzinapa les dieron Crunch”. This loosely translates as: “Those of Ayotzinapa were given Crunch”.

Responding to a public backlash, a Nestle spokesperson moved to distance the food group from the “completely unacceptable” tweet.

The spokesperson told just-food: “We have apologised for this completely unacceptable tweet which is entirely contrary to the values of our company. We deeply regret any distress it may have caused. We understand and share the public’s concern about this post. We take this matter extremely seriously.”

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The company has launched an investigation and the spokesperson revealed that Nestle plans to “take prompt action once the facts of this matter are established.”

Nestle declined to comment on whether the Twitter account had been hacked.