Schoolbook authors have been told not to write about sausages or pigs for fear of causing offence.
Guidance from leading educational publisher the Oxford University Press (OUP) prohibits authors from including anything that could be perceived as pork-related in their books.
The guidance, which is apparently aimed at avoiding offence among Jews and Muslims, emerged on Monday during a discussion about free speech on Radio 4’s Today programme.
Presenter Jim Naughtie, whose writer wife Eleanor Updale is in talks with Oxford University Press over an educational book series, said: "I've got a letter here that was sent out by OUP to an author doing something for young people.
"Among the things prohibited in the text that was commissioned by OUP was the following: Pigs plus sausages, or anything else which could be perceived as pork.
"Now, if a respectable publisher, tied to an academic institution, is saying you've got to write a book in which you cannot mention pigs because some people might be offended, it’s just ludicrous. It is just a joke."
The OUP says its guidelines exist because it needs to make its educational material available to as many people as possible.
A spokesman said: "Many of the educational materials we publish in the UK are sold in more than 150 countries, and as such they need to consider a range of cultural differences and sensitivities.
"Our editorial guidelines are intended to help ensure that the resources that we produce can be disseminated to the widest possible audience".
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