Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan will continue to monitor issue
SADIQ Khan MP, Shadow Justice Secretary, has received reassurances from the Government, following concerns on the contamination of halal meat in prison food.
Last month tests revealed that contractors providing food to prisons in England and Wales had contaminated halal food with traces of pork DNA. Prisons were subsequently informed and the food withdrawn.
Outraged by the announcement, Mr Khan contacted the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, to raise his concerns. He asked important questions such as how long the food had been contaminated, what other food had been affected and what financial penalties will be imposed on the supplier for the cost of disruption caused by the contamination.
Mr Khan said he had received reassurances from the Justice Secretary, which assures that the National offender Management Service (NOMS) are in the process of reviewing the situation to ensure all food products provided through the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) meet the quality standards expected.
The MoJ is currently working to determine which prisons were provided with contaminated products.
It is not known how long the food was contaminated for, but Mr Khan has been assured that the contamination was limited to a small number of pies, pasties and sausage rolls.
He said he will continue to monitor this issue to ensure there is no further contamination of prison food.
He has also written to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Secretary of State, Owen Patterson, to make sure that halal food is also tested as part of the horsemeat scandal.
“I was extremely concerned by last month’s announcement and continue to be worried about the contamination of all halal food,” Mr Khan said.
Last month tests revealed that contractors providing food to prisons in England and Wales had contaminated halal food with traces of pork DNA. Prisons were subsequently informed and the food withdrawn.
Outraged by the announcement, Mr Khan contacted the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, to raise his concerns. He asked important questions such as how long the food had been contaminated, what other food had been affected and what financial penalties will be imposed on the supplier for the cost of disruption caused by the contamination.
Mr Khan said he had received reassurances from the Justice Secretary, which assures that the National offender Management Service (NOMS) are in the process of reviewing the situation to ensure all food products provided through the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) meet the quality standards expected.
The MoJ is currently working to determine which prisons were provided with contaminated products.
It is not known how long the food was contaminated for, but Mr Khan has been assured that the contamination was limited to a small number of pies, pasties and sausage rolls.
He said he will continue to monitor this issue to ensure there is no further contamination of prison food.
He has also written to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Secretary of State, Owen Patterson, to make sure that halal food is also tested as part of the horsemeat scandal.
“I was extremely concerned by last month’s announcement and continue to be worried about the contamination of all halal food,” Mr Khan said.
“I have also written to the Food Standards Agency and to the Secretary of State, Owen Patterson to seek assurances about all halal food.
“It is important that the MoJ looks into how this was able to happen and how wide the problem was. British Muslims need to be reassured that every effort is being made to make sure that this does not happen again. The Muslim community deserves to know that food labelled as halal is indeed halal”
“It is important that the MoJ looks into how this was able to happen and how wide the problem was. British Muslims need to be reassured that every effort is being made to make sure that this does not happen again. The Muslim community deserves to know that food labelled as halal is indeed halal”
