Shaking Muslims’ confidence in school catering, traces of pork have been found in halal burgers served in schools in Leicester, prompting Muslim groups in the UK to consider legal action.

“This is a shocking and unacceptable development,” Suleman Nagdi from the Federation of Muslim Organizations (FMO) told Leicester Mercury.

“As Muslims, we cherish our strict dietary needs, which are well known and have been developed for well over a thousand years.
“The consumption of pork and alcohol is prohibited for all Muslims,” he added.

Traces of pork were found in the frozen product supplied by Doncaster-based manufacturer, Paragon Quality Foods Limited following DNA tests conducted on behalf of Leicester City Council.

The ‘halal’ burgers have been on Leicester school menus since January 2013 year as the only product supplied to the city council by the firm.

It was discovered in one of the regular tests carried out on behalf of the council since the horse meat scandal in February when traces were found in beef products across the country.

The council was informed of the results on April 18 and says it withdrew the product the following day to await further tests.

Education bosses have sent out 6,000 letters to parents and head teachers at the affected schools this week to tell them about the situation.

“The council took immediate action when it was discovered and the product was withdrawn from school menus immediately ahead of further tests being carried out. We will not be using this company again,” Councillor Vi Dempster, assistant city mayor for schools, said.

“It’s disgraceful that none of us can have confidence in the food we eat. We regret any distress this will cause families and staff, and would like to reassure them that robust action is being taken to address this serious matter.”

Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority, estimated at nearly 2.7 million.

The concept of halal, -- meaning permissible in Arabic -- has traditionally been applied to food.

Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.

Muslims do not eat pork and consider pigs and their meat filthy and unhealthy to eat.

Shaken Confidence

Finding pork traces in halal burger supplied to Muslim students, the incident has shaken Muslim confidence in school catering.

“This recent event will raise an issue of confidence in our community as to the measures and processes that are put in place that gives assurance of Halal meals,” Nagdi from the FMO said.

“All due diligence procedures should be thoroughly reviewed and bolstered where necessary and should include intermittent and random sample testing which should encompass DNA testing.

“It’s hoped that this will not occur again and the community are now looking to the city council and our elected councilors for this assurance and to rebuild the confidence that has clearly been shaken.”

The federation has also urged the council to take legal action against the company concerned.

“We feel that such a prosecution would be in the public interest and would send a clear message to all businesses in this sector that contamination will not be tolerated,” Nagdi added.

Leicestershire schools are not the first to apologize for supplying halal meat that includes pork traces in the UK.

Last February, a Birmingham school has apologized for serving non-halal food to Muslim students following an investigation on the school’s catering.

The incident was made public after a spokeswoman for the Food Standards Agency said the halal meat supplied to prisons involved traces of pork.

The discovery also comes as the country is still in the grip of the horse meat scandal, which last week saw Staffordshire County Council withdrawing beef from its school menus as a precaution.
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/462584-pork-found-in-leicester-halal-burger.html

https://islamstory.com/index.php/en/artical/12089/pork-leicester-halal-burger