Doughnut shop criticised for name

It's an American doughnut shop with a big difference. Unfortunately, the calories are still there but those traditional sugar sprinkled doughnuts aren't.

The staff are dressed in old fashioned nurses' outfits, and the walls are painted lime green and red. In the corner, there's a white leather padded cell with a black chair inside.

Psycho Donuts is in Campbell, California. It opened in March, and so far, business is booming.

The idea behind the shop was to create something wacky that would pull the doughnut lovers in.

The owner, 44-year-old Jordan Zweigoron, said he was experimenting in the kitchen with his business partner when they came up with the name.

He said: "We were playing around and we thought, What we're creating is crazy', and we found that the word psycho combined with the word doughnut had a nice sound. We realised it reflected our unique product."

Jordan's psychiatric theme runs through the business. Some of the doughnuts on sale have names like Bipolar, The Massive Head Trauma and Psycho, which is the most popular item on the menu.

Its lemon marshmellow glaze is topped with chocolate, pretzels, and chilli powder. Some might think that's a weird combination but that's the whole point.

Not surprisingly, this unusual set up hasn't gone without controversy.

Many reckon it's insensitive to those who are mentally ill. Over the past five months, people have been protesting outside the shop, demanding it be shut down.

Eileen Sexton works at Mental Health America (MHA). The non-profit organisation focuses on helping those with mental illnesses live happier and healthier lives.

She told Newsbeat: "It's not right to poke fun at these people and the owner needs to be better educated."

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the largest research organisation of its kind in the world, around 58 million Americans suffer from a mental illness.

But Jordan's not bothered by the criticism. He has no plans to close his shop.

In fact, he thinks the media has done him a favour by turning his small doughnut business into an international story.

He said: "There are a lot of things offensive out there. A lot of them are larger and more pervasive than a doughnut shop.

"For example, Halloween can be pretty offensive to people and a doughnut shop doesn't come to your door and knock on it.

"At Halloween people knock with a bloody head and nobody says let's ban Halloween."