Reports of pork DNA found in halal products certified by the Halal Food Authority (HFA) has led the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) to conduct a public inquiry in to the HFA’s practices.
According to MAT, the inquiry, which is a Public Community Inquiry, was requested following reports in the media, which revealed that food being supplied to prisons and other government organisations in the UK was tainted with pork DNA, despite being certified by the HFA.
Therefore, MAT wrote a letter on Tuesday, 5 February to the HFA inviting it to attend the inquiry and explain its circumstances, along with any other issues that led to the incident.
The letter, which was addressed to the HFA and written by the executive assistant to the governing council of MAT Fiaz Hussain, said: “The issue in hand is a matter of great importance to all Muslims and the gravity of the situation is in dire need of an explanation and accountability of the facts concerning the issue. The Muslim public would like to be informed how this disaster could have happened and under what circumstances did this occur. Further, Muslims need to be satisfied that this incident will never happen again and measures are put in place so as to eradicate the possibility of the same incident arising again.
“We therefore feel it is necessary to conduct a Public Community lnquiry to provide HFA an opportunity to explain the circumstances and any other issues leading to the awful incident. Muslim Arbitration Tribunal urges you to engage with us formally within 14 days of the date of this letter so that a full inquiry can be held and clarity can be provided to the Muslim Community.”
The letter continued: “Non-engagement will send out a strong signal to the Muslim community that HFA is not interested in rectifying or explaining its position. Non-engagement will also inevitably result in the cessation of confidence of the community in purchasing products accredited/certified by the HFA.
“We therefore stress the importance of the HFA engaging on this platform for responsibility and accountability it has towards the Muslim Ummah.”