Johannesburg - Muslims who were outraged at seeing a halaal sticker on a food package clearly indicating it contained pork have been assured the furore was just a labelling error.
Shaykh Achmat Sedick, director of the Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust, said he was sending a message to consumers explaining what had happened.
In the message, Sedick asked some of the people who had been worried not to post the picture on social media without speaking to the MJCHT first to get clarity on the matter.
“The Pick n Pay deli and the hot foods are halaal certified by the MJCHT. The store manager is a prominent Muslim whom many of us know. The deli and hot foods has a female Muslim manager. There is a full-time MJCHT monitor at the store and a there is an MJCHT inspector who inspects the store once a month and the halaal butchery once a week.”
Mary-Anne Hattingh, Pick n Pay national customer services manager, said the incident was only at one store at Ottery Hyper and that the product was incorrectly halaal certified.
“On immediate investigation it was noted that an incorrect LAN number was used which resulted in an incorrect label.
“This LAN number has been totally removed from the printer to prevent this from happening again. We apologise to all our customers for any concern or inconvenience this mistake may have caused.
“We hope that customers will be reassured by our confirmation that this was a labelling error and the product contained no pork,” she said.
The Star