UK: Council apologizes to Muslims for food 'mishap'

Despite the fact that there are less than 4% known Muslims living in Cardiff and less than 1% throughout Wales, the council of Cardiff, has decided this year to ensure that Muslim pupils across Cardiff and Wales receive Halal foods at lunch. According to the Cardiff City Council site:

For a number of years, there have been schools in Cardiff with a high Muslim population where the menu has been changed to reflect the requirement dictated by religious needs. For example, no pork enters the school at Mount Stuart Primary. And Cardiff Catering has also provided selected schools with Halal meals for over 2 years.

And yet, the Cardiff City Council now has a new crisis:

Parents of Muslim pupils at a Cardiff school have received an apology after their youngsters were served sausage rolls by dinner ladies, it has emerged.

The mistake was noticed before any of the pupils at Mount Stuart Primary, Butetown, ate the food.

A Cardiff City council spokeswoman apologised for the mistake, blaming "a lapse of supervision".
She said members of the local authority's schools catering service were to have a further meeting with parents, teachers and governors to discuss the incident at the school to ensure it was not repeated.

Councillor Mohammed-Sarul Islam said he wanted the next full council meeting to explain how the mix-up
happened.

He said: "Some children came home and refused to go back to school because the dinner ladies served them sausage rolls.

"This has caused deep upset and is absolutely outrageous. How can a mistake like this happen?"

There is a Muslim school in Cardiff. A religious person who wants to follow the dictates of his religion, should not leave things up to people who are not versed in that same religion. If Muslim parents in Cardiff want to make sure their children eat Halal foods, they can send them lunch.

One Muslim mother complained to the BBC:

Mother Jacqueline Maria Haque said it was very important for Muslim children to have halal foods, as they can go hungry if they are not given a halal choice.

"They do give halal foods in school, but not every day - they give vegetables, which not all children like," she said. "They would like western foods - like burgers, sausages and nuggets."

Source: BBC (English)