Fury as Muslim McDonald's customer mistakenly bites into sausage and egg McMuffin

A practising Muslim has hit out at McDonald's after he bit into a sausage McMuffin in error.

Fida Hussain from Small Heath claims tasting the pork roll has left him 'devastated' after avoiding the meat his whole life in line with his faith.

The 49-year-old is now demanding an apology and compensation from the fast-food giant.

Fida, who lives in Cooksey Road , goes to the drive-thru at McDonald's in Small Heath for a breakfast deal every morning, comprising of an egg and cheese mcMuffin, hash brown and a coffee.

He says on December 17, he made his usual journey to the Coventry Road restaurant and took the food home.

"I trusted them, he explains. "I was watching Judge Judy and bit into the McMuffin and knew instantly when I tasted it that it was meat. [Birmingham Mail] Read more

‘We were furious’: Uber driver rejects couple because of their Christmas ham

A couple were left stranded and out of pocket after a rideshare driver refused to pick them up because they had a Christmas ham

The couple had been for dinner at their local RSL in Melbourne’s south-east on Tuesday night, and picked up a ham they’d won there a few weeks ago.

They ordered an Uber, but as they approached the car the driver told them the ride was cancelled.

“My husband had it (the ham) in his hand and the boot opened,” stranded passenger Marion told 3AW’s Kate and Quarters.

“The guy said ‘what’s that?”

“My husband said ‘it’s ham’, and he said ‘no, you can’t get in. The trip is cancelled.”

The driver told the couple he wouldn’t take them home with the ham because he was Muslim,

But when Marion checked her bank account she got a rude shock.

She’d been charged a cancellation fee from Uber for the ride which the driver cancelled! [Radio 3AW] Read more

Chickens still facing slaughter in pain and fear

Millions of chickens destined for supermarkets and restaurants are being electrically stunned in slaughterhouses in a process that “causes pain and fear”, according to a report by the EU’s food safety adviser.

Vets have called on the poultry industry to stop using electric water baths and switch to more humane methods of stunning birds before they are killed.

KFC, Nandos, Tesco and Marks & Spencer are among the businesses selling meat from birds that have been turned upside down and had their legs jammed in metal shackles on a fast-moving conveyor line. [The Times (£)] Read more

Judge blasts council after Muslim kids fed bacon and hotdogs by foster parents

A judge has hit out at a council after three Muslim children were given bacon sandwiches while in foster care.

A court heard the youngsters, who are all aged under 16, had been placed with a family who also fed them bacon and eggs for breakfast and gave one of them a hotdog while at a fair.

The carers are said to have told them at the time: “If we make bacon, you eat it.”

The kids' dad, who was accused of being violent and abusive towards their mum, accused the council in Yorkshire of "playing God" during the four-year legal battle.

He also said they had ignored his Islamic faith, telling Judge Angela Finnerty: “One matter that sits terribly with me is that they have been feeding my children bacon.

"You yourself told them not to feed my children pork products."

The mother also spoke of her anger and accused the council of discrimination, saying it doesn't "like Muslims" and doesn't "want Muslim kids to be raised as Muslims by Muslim parents". [Daily Star] Read more

Student to take university to court after being 'kicked out for views on halal meat'

A student looks set to take academics to court after he was kicked out of university for giving his views on halal meat.

Sebastian Walsh told friends on his uni course it was “violent and barbaric" and that "the UK is being Islamified" in a seminar.

However, after multiple complaints were made against him, the University of Central Lancashire suspended the first year Children, Schools, and Families student in February.

Now, he is set to take the university to court after raising £30,000 through CrowdJustice pending the outcome of an appeal.

Halal is meat where animals are killed through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe instead of stunning.

He told friends he would never eat at Subway or KFC because they sold meat that had been slaughtered. [Daily Mirror] Read more

Tories must include labelling of Halal and Kosher meat in manifesto, animal welfare group backed by Carrie Symonds says

The Conservatives must include the labeling of Halal and Kosher meat in their upcoming manifesto, the Tory Animal Welfare group, backed by Carrie Symonds, has said.

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF), whose patrons include the Prime Minister's partner as well as ministers Dominic Raab, Zac Goldsmith and Theresa Villiers, has presented a blueprint manifesto to the Prime Minister.

It is hoped that Boris Johnson will include many environmental and animal welfare related issues in the document, and the CAWF has suggested many, including banning foie gras and the export of live farm animals for fattening and slaughter. [The Telegraph] Read more

M&S answers demand for halal meat in ready meals

Marks & Spencer is to become the first major British retailer to sell own-brand halal ready-meals in response to the growing demand from Muslim customers.

From next week halal versions of six dishes, including chicken arrabbiata, chicken jalfrezi and chicken and mushroom tagliatelle, will be on sale in 36 stores from Bath to Wycombe Marsh.

The meals will also be stocked in Marks & Spencer international stores in Singapore and Dubai by its franchise partner Al-Futtaim. [The Times (£)] Read more

M&S is to become first food giant to sell own-label halal ready meals at stores that attract high number of Muslim shoppers

Marks & Spencer is to become the first mainstream food giant to sell own-label halal ready meals in stores with a large number of Muslim shoppers.

Most supermarkets already sell branded halal products, from names such as Shazans, while many takeaways, butchers and food chains sell only halal meat.

But M&S says its 'cruelty-free' products, which include chicken ready meals, ranging from curries to Italian dishes and a hot pot, are a first.

At the same time, the company is trying to broaden its range to attract others who want food that meets their own ethical approach with, for example, the Plant Kitchen range catering for the increasing number of vegans. [Daily Mail] Read more

Government backtracks on non-stun meat labelling

The Defra Secretary has appeared to backtrack on the government's previous position on requiring meat from unstunned animals to be labelled.

Theresa Villiers said the government will not seek to introduce legislation requiring meat to be labelled either stunned or non-stunned.

In previous comments since 2017, ministers at Defra have suggested the government would review labelling requirements.

Figures from 2017/18 reveal that over 120 million animals were slaughtered without being stunned first - more than three animals slaughtered every second on average. [FarmingUK] Read more

Villiers confirms Government will not be labelling meat from non-stun slaughter

Theresa Villiers has said the Government will not introduce labelling on meat from non-stun slaughter.

The Defra Secretary said the Government opposed restrictions on non-stun slaughter and that she ‘would not have supported’ amendments to the Agriculture Bill, proposed earlier in the year, which would have required the labelling of non-stun meat.

She said she thought it was ‘important for people to be able to follow their faith’.

In a letter to Ms Villiers, The National Secular Society (NSS) urged the Government to end the religious exemption which allows non-stun slaughter, or short of that to introduce labelling requirements and prohibit the export of non-stun meat.

It said her position seemed to ‘accept that the economic viability of the kosher industry is dependent on non-stun meat being allowed to slip into the general food chain’. [Farmers Guardian] Read more

A sign of the times: Butcher is forced to take down THIS notice outside his shop after it was found to be offensive and 'inciting hatred' of Muslims

A local butcher has been forced to take down a sign on its front window declaring that its meat is 'non halal certified'.

Muslims complained Valley Butchers was mocking Islam with the prominent sticker, which included pictures of kangaroos and emus, at its Adelaide shopfront.

'It pokes fun of a specific group of people based on religious belief. It is very intentional and obvious,' the complaint read.

'Jokes like this on a public shopfront perpetuate a culture of vilification towards religious minorities, that results in harm towards them.'

Valley Butchers defended the sign to the Advertising Standards Board as merely an answer to a frequently asked question. [Daily Mail Australia] Read more

Muslim woman claims discrimination after being rejected as hotel waitress

A luxury hotel has been accused of discrimination after it denied a Muslim woman a job as a waitress because her faith stops her handling pork or alcohol.

Rufflets St Andrews hotel, in Fife, interviewed Fatima Elfakri for the role last month but decided against hiring her, citing concerns the job would make her feel “awkward and uncomfortable”.

The job involved serving afternoon tea to hotel guests, which would include ham sandwiches, sausage rolls and champagne.

In the interview Ms Elfakri, 20, told management that she would be unable to serve some of the items on religious grounds. She later received an email praising her interview performance but saying she was not suitable for the job.

The hotel, which is family run, said that it did not have enough staff for her to avoid certain duties. [The Times (£)] Read more

Why was a GCSE student disqualified for criticising halal meat?

We have to talk about the schoolgirl who was disqualified from a GCSE exam on the grounds that she had made ‘obscene racial comments’ about Islam. This bizarre incident is being chalked up to overzealous wokeness on the part of some GCSE examiners.

But it’s more than that. It tells us a bigger story about 21st-century Britain and the creeping criminalisation of any questioning of Islam. Too many institutions now believe it is their role to monitor and even punish anti-Islam ‘blasphemy’.

The girl — Abigail Ward — is 16 years old and a strict vegetarian. In her GCSE Religious Studies exam she wrote some critical comments about halal meat. She described the butchery involved in the preparation of halal meat as ‘absolutely disgusting’. The exam board OCR accused her of having made ‘obscene racial comments’ and disqualified her exam paper. Her school appealed, and won. OCR apologised for the ‘upset and stress’ it had caused Miss Ward.

But before we move on and shrug off this incident as the behaviour of an ‘overzealous, over-righteous’ examiner — as Miss Ward’s mother put it — we have to ask some questions. Primarily this one: why on earth was criticism of an Islamic practice presumed to be racist? And not only racist but obscenely racist? [The Spectator] Read more

Belgium tests EU rules on halal and kosher slaughter

It is the last year that Mohamed Bouezmarni can help sacrifice around 200 sheep in a southern Belgian slaughterhouse for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

From September 1, the French-speaking region of Wallonia will be the second Belgian authority after Flanders to ban halal and kosher slaughter as it moves to prohibit killing animals without prior stunning.

The bans are the result of a long push by animal welfare activists, but Jewish and Muslim groups fear they are also a sign that the anti-immigrant sentiment of right-wing Flemish nationalists has captured Belgium's political mainstream.

Lamenting this impending legal obstacle to a festival that he describes as “the equivalent of Christmas,” Bouezmarni, the head of the Muslim association in the town of Arlon, feared that sacrifices could be driven underground. [POLITICO] Read more

GCSE student disqualified after examiner mistook hatred for halal meat for Islamophobia

A vegetarian GCSE pupil was disqualified after criticising halal meat in a Religious Studies exam, it has today emerged.

Abigail Ward, 16, was accused of making "obscene racial comments" in her test.

She was informed by exam board OCR after committing a "malpractice offence".

The practicing vegetarian said in the paper in June she found the idea of halal meat "absolutely disgusting", Telegraph reports.

But the disqualification was overturned when the board was told the teenager's distaste for halal butchers came from the fact she is a strict vegetarian.

Abigail took the exam at Gildredge House school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, which appealed against the decision on the grounds that their student had not made an Islamophobic or racist comment about Muslims, but was merely expressing her distaste for halal butchers. [Daily Mirror] Read more

Vegetarian student disqualified from GCSE paper for 'obscene racial comments' after she criticised halal meat

A student was disqualified from her GCSE exam after she was accused of making “obscene racial comments” by criticising halal meat.

Abigail Ward, 16, a strict vegetarian, wrote during a Religious Studies exam in June that she found the idea of halal meat "absolutely disgusting".

The exam board OCR later disqualified Miss Ward from the exam, accusing her of making "obscene racial comments".

The decision was only overturned when her school, Gildredge House in Eastbourne, appealed the decision, insisting Miss Ward had been expressing her distaste for halal butchers and was not making any comment about Muslims.

The school added that no other comments made in the paper could be construed as racist.

The exam board upheld the appeal and later apologised for the “upset and stress” they caused Miss Ward, the Telegraph reported. [Evening Standard] Read more

Fluenz: ‘Don’t ask faith leaders for vaccine advice’

Health officials have backtracked over guidance encouraging parents “to seek advice from faith or other community leaders” before deciding whether their children can be vaccinated against flu.

Public Health England (PHE) made the suggestion after some Muslims raised concerns about the presence of pork gelatine in the Fluenz nasal spray, which will be offered from next month to children aged two to ten. It has now deleted this advice from its public information leaflets after the National Secular Society complained that it was “confusing and potentially harmful”.

Stephen Evans, the society’s chief executive, wrote to PHE saying: “Religious people are of course at liberty to consult religious leaders on any issue but they should not be directed to do so by a public health authority.”

.... “Now that awareness of the porcine gelatine issue is much more widespread we are updating our documents to make clear that PHE recommends using scientific evidence to help when deciding whether or not to vaccinate.” [The Times (£)] Read more

Muslim man discovers Pret sandwich he has been eating for 12 years is not halal

A Muslim man has discovered the Pret A Manger sandwich he has been eating for 12 years is not halal.

Khalid Qadeer, who works as a tax adviser in London, is a frequent customer at the food chain and would always opt for its signature tuna baguette sandwich.

However, the tax adviser was shocked to find out the sandwich contained white wine vinegar, after noticing the ingredient listed on a new printed label.

White wine vinegar is not considered halal in Islam.

Despite that, the ingredient is also not listed on fridge labels in store.

.... A Pret spokesperson said their sandwiches have never been labelled as halal-certified.

They said: ‘Whilst we’re very sorry that Mr Qadeer feels he was misled, the food and drink sold at Pret has never been labelled as halal-certified and we have never made any halal product claims. [Daily Mirror] Read more

Muslims join official talks over pork-derived gelatine in flu vaccine

Public health chiefs have held talks with Muslim leaders after families raised concerns about allowing their children to have the flu vaccine because it contains pork products.

All healthy children between two and ten in England will be offered the Fluenz nasal spray vaccine in schools from September. It was initially provided only for nursery-age children.

Public Health England (PHE) said that uptake had been “slightly lower” in areas with a high proportion of Muslim families, partly because of concerns that it contains porcine gelatine.

The Muslim Council of Britain initiated talks between PHE and Muslim groups in 2014 after some parents said that they did not want their child to receive vaccines containing pork, which is considered unclean in Islam.

Yesterday the council said most Muslim scholars agreed that vaccines with porcine gelatine were not allowed in Islam unless lives were at risk and there was no alternative. “Our view is not that Muslims should automatically refuse such treatment,” a spokesman said. “Health is paramount. Anyone concerned about the use of gelatine in vaccines must consult a medical practitioner and make an informed decision.” [The Times (£)] Read more

Muslim parents refuse to let their children take part in nationwide flu vaccine drive 'because treatment is not halal'

Muslim parents are reportedly refusing to allow their children to have a nasal flu vaccine because the treatment is not halal.

Concerns were first raised over the spray - Fluenz Tetra - containing pork gelatine last year, but the issue has been highlighted again ahead of a new nationwide drive.

At the time, the Vegetarian Society branded the use of the ingredient in three vaccines as 'disappointing', while the Muslim Council of Britain said the spray would only be permitted if there was no alternative and lives were at risk.

Next month, every healthy child between two and 10 in England will be offered Fluenz Tetra to increase herd immunity.

But uptake in areas with a high proportion of practicing Muslims is 'significantly lower' than the average, reports the Telegraph.

Dr Shuja Shafi, the chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain's research and documentation committee, said: 'We have consulted the scholars and this is their view… we need another vaccine which is halal.'

Last year Dr Shafi urged doctors to find a 'long-term solution' to the issue. Two other vaccines, MMR VaxPro and Zostavax, also contain gelatine. [Daily Mail] Read more