Shabana Mahmood, a senior politician from the Birmingham Ladywood constituency, told Ansa News in an interview that she would write to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State to report that beef burgers from Ireland contained pork protein, yet they had made no statement on this serious situation.

Prime Minister David Cameron, in a statement to the House of Commons, said that retailers have a responsibility to inform their customers what substances are contained in food.

In fact, these foods had been adulterated, which drew great attention, and the food safety agency was investigating whether they colluded with retailers. They also had to conduct a more far-reaching investigation to understand the nature of the factories they claimed had been passed by the British Retail Consortium. For their part, they also violated their own standards and must be inspected and audited again, because this is quite inconsistent with themselves.

At the same time, the food safety authority has a responsibility to investigate exactly where the problem occurred—whether it was the manufacturer, the retailer, or both. Remember, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland was fully aware of this problem as early as December 2012, but at the time they did not make a public statement, instead postponing it to the second week of January.

This conduct has violated secular law, and the authorities have a responsibility to investigate and remove these products, regardless of whether they are halal.

Even more unacceptable is that one of the manufacturers, named by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, was famous for fully halal slaughter, yet did not inform non-Muslim groups or label the products.

Equally unacceptable is that some groups do not wish to buy and consume halal meat, but were forced to consume it without their knowledge.

Through the mediation I gained via Ms. Shabana Mahmood and members of parliament, the Muslim community will inform the Prime Minister of this serious fact in writing through the Secretary of State. This move drew great attention from Ms. Shabana Mahmood's Ladywood constituents, for whom it is equivalent to telling them where and how this error occurred.

In a conversation with the head of Birmingham's environmental health organization, Ansa News mentioned the embarrassment and panic recently caused by pork appearing in beef burgers. They also said they had no authority to investigate this claim, because the slaughterhouses producing the pork were not located in Birmingham. Even Birmingham's Muslim community could consume frozen foods that might contain pork.

The head of the environmental management service said that products in Birmingham had never undergone DNA testing, even though large amounts of halal beef food from Ireland were circulating and consumed in halal fast food, because of financial constraints.

At points of sale in Birmingham, products may or may not contain pork. As a concerned group, we strongly demand that the food standards agency expose all suspected parties and publish their names so that people can easily recognize them and discard them from their freezers, because these frozen foods pose safety hazards and have a 12-month shelf life.

We Muslims hope that, through Shabana Mahmood's mediation, members of parliament can quickly settle the case, so that these frozen products are produced under their own trademarks and can more easily enter the school and hospital markets. This is also why all trademarks must be certified and named, otherwise it will affect their religious dietary needs.

We are awaiting the results of Ansa News's investigation into how horse meat and pork entered beef burgers and frozen foods, because only then can it be ensured that such things will not happen again. At the same time, we also hope the government will adopt DNA test sampling for halal food, which can serve as an additional fail-safe, so as to guarantee the quality and broad application of food.

Ansa News has previously paid great attention to mixed products, which have blended British and similar imported halal and non-halal meat. This is precisely why we call for a public debate on these practices and clear labeling, informing all groups whether these products are slaughtered according to halal principles. British consumers have the right to know how the meat they eat is processed and slaughtered.

'If labeling is introduced, then labels will become common knowledge. All meat should be labeled, which can serve as an indication of the slaughter method of the meat, not just halal meat.'

FAQ

What regulatory responsibilities were involved in the UK beef burger pork-adulteration incident?
In the incident, beef burgers imported from Ireland were found to contain pork protein. The UK food standards agency has a responsibility to investigate whether the problem lay with the manufacturer, the retailer or both, and to verify whether these factories still meet the standards passed by the British Retail Consortium; retailers have a responsibility to inform customers of the substances contained in food. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland was aware of the problem as early as December 2012 but postponed the public statement to the following January.
What demands did the Muslim community make regarding meat labeling?
The demands include: the food standards agency should expose and publish the names of all suspected products so that consumers can identify and discard them (involving frozen foods with a 12-month shelf life); the government should adopt DNA sampling tests for halal food as a fail-safe; and all meat should be labeled to indicate the slaughter method (not just halal meat), because British consumers have the right to know how the meat they eat is processed and slaughtered.