Halaal certification for a Kenilworth supermarket butchery has been pulled after a Muslim shopper spotted pork there.
The Muslim Judicial Council’s Halaal Trust (MJCHT) had suspended the certificate for Fresher’s Butcher at Food Lover’s Market in Access Park, said the trust’s chief operations officer, Shaykh Moosa Titus, following the reports of non-compliance with the MJC’s halaal standards and operating procedures.
“We are currently investigating,” he said.
Razia Dalwai complained on social media about pork being sold at the Access Park Food Lover’s despite an advertisement claiming the store was strictly halaal.
“So Food Lover’s in Access Park is stating in their weekly brochure that their Access Park store does not stock or sell pork products and that they are strictly halaal.To my disgust, I saw that they indeed stock and sell pork meat at their cheese counter,” Ms Dalwai wrote on Facebook last Saturday.
Foodlover’s Market issued a statement on its website on Monday, saying it welcomed the comment and guidance from the MJCHT.
“Food Lover’s Market wishes to apologise to the Islamic community shopping at Access Park. We assure you that we are taking every step we can to ensure that we fulfil the requirements set out to achieve halaal certification in the butchery,” the store said.
Mr Titus said a preliminary investigation had found no contamination had occurred in the halaal-certified butchery.
“The store’s management removed all pork products from the store, which was located in a separate area away from the butcher. This particular area does not fall under the jurisdiction of the MJCHT. The store requested the MJCHT to cleanse the area immediately,” said Mr Titus.
He said the certificate would be reinstated once the investigation was over and it had been confirmed the store was again compliant with MJC halaal criteria.
Ms Dalwai said on Facebook that all the pork items had been removed from the store when she had returned there on Monday.
