WASHINGTON: The maker of Toblerone chocolate bars said Sunday that the company will remove images of the famous Matterhorn mountain peak from its packaging.

Toblerone, owned by the US company Mondelez, said the packaging would be updated to reflect the company's decision to move some production outside of Switzerland -- which has strict rules on the use of national symbols, United Press International (UPI) reported.

Packaging for the triangle-shaped chocolate debuted the image of the Matterhorn in 1970, replacing the image of a bear and eagle representing the creation of the chocolate bar in Bern in 1908.

"The packaging redesign introduces a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic," it cited a Mondelez spokesperson told Aargauer Zeitung.

Toblerone packaging will now read established in Switzerland rather than of Switzerland as the company moves some production to Slovakia, according to the newspaper.

Instead of the profile of the jagged mountain peak, the packaging will include a distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo that draw further inspiration from the Toblerone archives and the inclusion of our founder, Tobler's, signature, the BBC reported.

According to The Guardian, Switzerland passed legislation in 2017 that restricts the use of national symbols on food and industrial packaging.

At least 80 per cent of a product's raw ingredients must be sourced from the country in order for a product to be marked as being made in Switzerland.

That requirement grows to 100 per cent when products contain milk, such as milk chocolate, with exceptions made for ingredients such as cocoa that are not native to Switzerland.

-- BERNAMA