A view of a Walmart store on August 15 in Richmond, California Photo: VCG

It wasn't the type of white powder that makes Christmas complete - American retail giant Walmart has withdrawn a festive sweater that celebrates cocaine.

The sweater depicts Santa Claus with straw in hand, and three white lines laid out on a table before him.

"Let it snow" is written underneath, in a slang reference to cocaine.

The description of the product, marketed by a third-party vendor on Walmart's Canadian site, was explicit.

A Walmart spokeswoman told AFP on Tuesday that the sweaters were withdrawn from the site over the weekend, and have never been sold in the chain's stores.

She was unable to say how long the sweaters were offered for sale.

The sweaters "do not represent Walmart's values and have no place on our website," the company said in a statement, apologizing "for any unintended offence this may have caused."

AFP