Durban – The North Beach Spar has issued a statement after pork sausages were found to be marked with Halal labels from the Islamic Council of SA (ICSA).
The Islamic Watchdog Movement (IWM) notified the public of this after someone called it in. It was later discovered there had been a mix-up between the wrappings provided. The incorrect label was used on their product.
Jorge Farinha, co-owner of North Beach Spar, issued a statement to Salaamedia clarifying some matters.
Farinha said their butchery has been certified Halal by ICSA for the past eight years. The product that IWM found was ordered by Deli Spices in March. The error was on their supplier’s end.
“They did not send the right label with the product. The manager and the staff did not pick up that the label had pork in it. The Watchdog community thought it had pork in it, but it doesn’t.”
Farinha denied their butchery stocks pork sausages or any pork products as the IWM questioned how a store selling pork products could be certified.
“Our butchery, we don’t sell pork in it. We have strict standards. This is a label mistake.”
Farinha said Deli Spices sent a written apology admitting their mistake due to them knowing that North Beach Spar is Halal. The labels, for Halal products and not, are almost identical. Farinha suggested that the supply company change the colour to avoid this mistake happening again.
A meeting between IWM and ICSA was arranged by Farinha. The organisations both agreed they have no issues with the store.
“They [IWM] understand it was a mistake. They have accepted all the facts. They will be releasing a statement and they have apologised to me. They seem to be upset with ICSA and for some reason they don’t accept their certification.”
Since the video was released, Farinha has seen a dip in clientele as well as close friends turning on him in what he believes was an honest mistake.
“We are terribly embarrassed. My business has taken a knock. People I’ve known for many years have been off towards me and have been yelling at me. It’s just sad because we’ve done basically nothing wrong. It’s not our fault that the labels were incorrect.”
Farinha is aware of the gravity of the situation and has vowed to put stricter measures in place to avoid such an incident again. He hopes Halal products’ label colour will be changed as part of those measures.
It is not clear whether ICSA has pulled their certification from the store, while Deli Spices is certified by the NIHT. The IWM said a statement will be released by them on Wednesday. While customers of the store are unhappy about the incident respect and decency should be upheld.
