By Nicholas Robinson – meatinfo.co.uk
Muslims have been let down by the UK government, the Sharia Halal Board has said.
Last week it was revealed that another batch of halal meat products made for schools were found to contain pork DNA, which is not allowed. The Sharia Halal Board (SHB) said this is haraam (forbidden) food being served as halal.
The council facing criticism from the SHB is Westminster Council, which has been accused by the Board for failing the Muslims of its borough in a “great way”.
Every Muslim tries to ensure that his or her family are protected from Haraam food, said the SHB, however, “the council who were in charge or procurement have been serving the most Pork, the most forbidden form of meat to Muslims in amongst their Halal sausages”.
SHB has also accused the council of trying to reduce its liability by telling Muslims that only 4,400 students had the option of eating the pork contaminated meat. However, SHB said the council does not understand that even one person eating the haraam food is unacceptable.
“The Sharia Halal Board has written to various councils in the UK and in particular to Westminster council after their failings to demand further tests and enquiries,” the SHB said.
“We have written and requested that the government immediately start a national enquiry into Halal meat supplied by all governmental departments.”
The Board has said that it holds Westminster Council, the halal certifier and the halal food supplier liable. It further added that all Muslim families of the borough should be vigilant and should avoid any meat products until the matter is fully resolved.
SHB added: “We will ensure to find out the exact Halal certifier involved and their failings must be highlighted to the Muslims so that they can ensure these mistakes do not take place ever again.
“This further proves the Sharia Halal Board’s stance, that we can no longer simply rely on certified meat, it must be monitored and certified full stop. It must be British as this is the ONLY meat we can fully trace and penalise for any failure.”
In a statement released yesterday Andrew Christie, Westminster City Council’s tri-borough director of children’s services, said: “We are very concerned by the discovery that a contractor has fallen short of the high standards we demand. We also understand and regret the upset that may have been caused to parents and children alike. We are contacting schools, parents and faith group leaders and are offering to meet them to discuss their concerns.
“Westminster City Council took prompt action when this issue came to light and immediately ensured this product stopped being served in the schools in question. We have asked our contractor Chartwells to no longer use the meat supplier involved.
“The discovery of pork in these sausages came about because of extra tests Westminster City Council decided to carry out. The results were all the more shocking given the assurances about
