The Lancashire Council of Mosques says that it now has 14 schools who are taking up their new ‘halal endorsement’.
The LCM Halal endorsement is certified by the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC).
Last year, the LCM Halal Sub Group were at loggerheads with the Lancashire County Council (LCM) after the council stopped using food from a HMC supplier. It led to the LCM urging parents to boycott non-HMC certified school food.
Now, the LCM has produced it’s own certificate for schools to display.
The LCM Halal Sub group says the certificate is free. To get the certificate though a typical school is charged a £50 application fee and then an annual charge of £100 by the HMC.
Salim Mulla, chair of the LCM Halal Sub-Group, said: “There has been lots of confusion recently about the provision of Halal meals in schools.
“We have been working on this issue for several years in partnership with the local authorities and certifying organisations.
“We have now made the task simple for parents. We have started to provide Halal endorsement certificates to schools in Lancashire who adhere to our Halal standard and undergo audits and routine inspections.
“Parents simply have to check whether their school has the LCM Halal endorsement certificate.
“If your school does not have the certificate, please avoid the meat & chicken and request your school to apply for one.”
An LCM Halal Sub Group member did tell us however that this did not mean non LCM/HMC certified food was ‘haram’. But parents should act cautiously and urge their schools to adopt the new method so they can be sure the food is 100% halal.
The LCM criteria does not deem an organisation fully endorsed even if the food is bought from a HMC certified butchers.
The full list of the LCM certified schools is available on www.lancashiremosques.com.
