Following the discovery of pork in meat ostensibly certified as halal, many British Muslims have voiced concerns about the state of the UK’s halal meat supply. Amidst this concern, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) noted with regret the comments reportedly made by the President of the Halal Food Authority (HFA) in what appears to be an attempt to play down the issue surrounding recent discovery of traces of non-halal meat in Halal-certified products.
Commenting on the news report on 5 February, the MCB Deputy Secretary General, Dr Shuja Shafi said, “The government has acted swiftly in the interest of Muslim consumers, and it is time for Muslim certification bodies to equally restore the trust deficit. Rather than playing down such incidents, halal certification bodies should reflect and work together to improve regulation of the industry.” The MCB also called upon halal certification bodies to join hands in reviewing urgently the whole Halal-Certification process. “Working together to come up with credible and robust mechanism to improve standards is now the need of the hour.”