MP calls for assurances over halal meat (From Asian Image)

MP calls for assurances over halal meat

11:37am Monday 18th February 2013 in North of England news By Asian Image reporter

Sadiq Khan MP has called for assurances that the Government and the FSA are investigating halal meat as part of the horse meat scandal.

Muslims account for about 20% of lamb consumption in this country and a small but increasing amount of beef.

Sadiq Khan MP has written to both the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP to find out whether they will be testing halal products as part of their investigations into horse meat contamination.

Sadiq also recently raised concerns with the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, following the news that the Prison Service had notified the Food Standards Agency that traces of pork DNA had been found in a selection of meat pies labelled as Halal.

Any contamination is clearly of concern to faith communities and the affected products were rightly quarantined and contracts suspended.

Mr Khan said: "I have written to the FSA and the Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, to raise the important issue of potential contamination of Halal products with horse meat.

"The FSA are already investigating how a number of beef products on sale in the UK came to contain horse meat, but it is also important for the FSA to reassure British Muslims that they are also looking at halal meat to see if it has been contaminated. Following the contamination of prison food with traces of pork DNA, we need to know that every effort is being made to investigate halal meat."