An Anaheim market has agreed to pay more than a half-million dollars in a civil settlement after claims that it falsely advertised and sold generic meat that it advertised as halal meat.
Calling meat “halal” indicates that it was butchered in a specific way and slaughtered in the name of Allah, making it permissible to eat in accordance with Islamic law.
An investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s office found that Anaheim Super King Market was selling meat from various sources as Halal meat, even though it did not meet those standards.
The Anaheim Super King Market agreed Monday to pay $527,000 to settle the case. While Super King Market has several locations throughout Southern California, the settlement only applies to the Anaheim location. A spokesperson for Anaheim Super King Market could not be reached for comment.
The Anaheim market, located near Magnolia Avenue and Cerritos Street, is on the outskirts of a large Muslim-American district, often referred to as Little Arabia.
Officials with the Orange county Health Department began investigating the market in April 2010 and discovered that various meats were being delivered to the store with no clear labeling. Once reaching the display case, they were “co-mingled with generic meats” and falsely advertised as meeting halal standards.
The D.A.'s consumer-fraud unit began investigating in summer 2010. The same unit has prosecuted cases involving fraudulent health supplements and male-enhancement pills, among other cases.
The prosecution of Anaheim Super King resulted from concerns raised by the Health Department, not from a public complaint, said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s office.
“In some cases, if specific victims can be identified, they might receive part of a monetary settlement. But in this case, it’s impossible to know who all the victims might have been,” she said. So the money will be used to prosecute other consumer-fraud cases.
The settlement didn’t require the market to admit fault. Anaheim Super King now must only purchase meat that is clearly labeled on the invoice and packaging and must ensure that halal meat is properly segregated, according to the settlement.
Prosecuting such cases is important, the District Attorney said in a statement, because “it protects customers from deceptive and harmful business practices and also prevents the defendant from gaining an unfair advantage over legitimate businesses.”