Hungry Jack’s is investigating one of its Hume restaurants after reports it was selling halal food.
The Tullamarine Hungry Jack’s store received halal certification from the Islamic Coordinating Council of Victoria (ICCV) on December 31 last year.
ICCV administration manager Sidki Guzem said an inspector visited the Tullamarine store and the council was confident in its checks.
But confusion remains in the muslim community about whether the food was in fact halal .
Hungry Jack’s Australia chief executive Aaron McKie said halal-certified items have never been available from any of their restaurants.
“No halal product was supplied to the restaurant by any of Hungry Jack’s approved suppliers,” he said.
But Tullamarine franchisee Nicholas Raptis said he had not misled customers in any way.
“I do buy all my products from Hungry Jack’s and am proud to be a Hungry Jack’s store owner,” he said.
“We supply all the food Hungry Jack’s supply.”
Hungry Jack’s has asked the franchisee to explain how the certification was obtained.
“The company is still trying to establish the chain of events which led to the ICCV awarding an halal certificate to the restaurant,” Mr McKie said.
He said the franchisee made unauthorised claims and breached the trust of customers and the company.
Hungry Jack’s has contacted ICCV to clarify how the restaurant had received a halal certificate.
Mr Guzem said the council checked suppliers to see where the meat was coming from and whether it had halal certification.
“We do check the records, we make sure the meat is halal and from halal sources.”