Name change urged for gorditas: it’s discriminatory, say critics

Many of Mexico’s favorite snacks are noted for their colorful names, but one term for a stuffed corn tortilla has fallen foul of some social media users.

Gordita is the feminine form of the word for “chubby,” which some say is inherently discriminatory and should therefore be changed.

Proposals for a new name include masa con relleno (“dough with filling”) and masa frita (“fried dough”), the newspaper Proceso reported. Baked and deep-fried variants of gorditas are found all over Mexico.

Although the proposal gained some support on social media, other users considered the campaign misguided.

“They’ve been called that for a lifetime. It’s like wanting to change the name of burritos,” wrote one user, referring to another stuffed corn snack which translates literally as “little donkeys.” 

“They have been, are and always will be gorditas. If anyone is offended, lose weight,” another user crudely suggested.

It’s not the first time a snack’s name has caused controversy. In 2013, the bread company Bimbo changed the name of its cake from Negrito, a racially derived nickname common in Mexico, roughly translating to “black boy,” to the less controversial Nito. 

Faced with a similar issue last year, Swiss food giant Nestlé changed the name of a cookie from Negrita, roughly meaning “black girl,” to Chokita. 

With reports from Proceso

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Luis Ángel Robles Morales

500 Chihuahua farmers are benefitting from a 20-year-old Tec student’s prize-winning filtration invention

0
Luis Ángel Robles Morales, an engineering student from a farming family, was honored with a 2026 Garza Sada Award for his water-use-extending filtration system, which has already proved its worth where it counts: out in the fields.
students in classroom

Latest PISA survey reveals 4 in 10 Mexican students do not meet basic level in science, math and reading

0
The 41.8% of Mexican students aged 15 who scored below the basic level in the science/math/reading triad was more than double the 19.7% average of all countries in the OECD.
cryptomining farm in Puebla

Authorities seize 300 computers from cryptomining farm siphoning power from Puebla grid

0
Authorities discovered the clandestine facility in Tlaola, a municipality in northern Puebla near the Nuevo Necaxa Dam — the second such bust in a year connected to this power source.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity