Tesco reluctant to refund Christian woman who unknowingly bought halal lamb - Asda and Tesco responds to emails

As a follow on to my article on halal meat in our supermarkets I have received the following replies from two more top stores...

ASDA

Thank you for contacting me regarding Halal meat at the Sutton-in-Ashfield store.

I would like to reassure you that Asda takes the issue of animal welfare extremely seriously, and employs a highly skilled team of technical product managers and factory inspectors to ensure our welfare polices are always adhered to by our suppliers.

Our company policy is to insist that any animal slaughtered for use in any Asda branded product is always stunned prior to its slaughter, rendering them unconscious and insensitive to pain.

All products, both halal and standard, sold under the Asda brand must adhere to this strict animal welfare policy.

I can also assure you that the labelling of products in all areas of our store meet our legal obligations.

Kind Regards

Rachel Eddon
ASDA Service Team
Tel: 0844 481 5000

TESCO

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the delay in replying to your email. We do try to respond to our customers' emails in a timely manner and I'm sorry that this has not happened on this occasion.

Thank you for contacting us regarding the sale of Halal meat in our stores.

I would like to reassure you that we require all slaughter processes in our supply chain, including Halal, to meet our stringent animal welfare requirements. In every case, the animal is stunned before slaughter so that it is insensible and feels no pain.

We are aware of the RSPCA's concerns with regards to animals slaughtered under the Halal ritual being sufficiently stunned. We take animal welfare very seriously and that is why we audit all of our slaughter houses to ensure that the stunning process is effective and that the animal feels no pain.

Like all other major UK supermarkets, we source from suppliers who serve Muslim as well as non-Muslim customers. Some of these suppliers process all their meat to Halal standards. For example, all New Zealand lamb meets Halal standards. In these cases, all of our processes still meet the same stringent animal welfare requirements and all animals are stunned prior to slaughter whether the meat is sold as Halal or non-Halal.

All fresh meat we sell is not Halal, except for lamb and chicken and of those ranges we can absolutely assure you that if you buy British organic lamb and chicken as well as the Willow Farm and Finest Free Range lines, these will not be Halal either.

I would also like to advise you that all of our pre-packed Halal meats are labelled as Halal, and any fresh Halal meats are served on the specialised Deli counters that we have in some of our stores that are situated in and around highly populated Muslim areas.

We like to give all of our customers a choice of what meat they would like to buy, and I can assure you that all our food labels are controlled by government legislation and EU regulations. We would never do anything to intentionally upset any of our customers.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. I hope that the above information is helpful.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk

Kind Regards

Joan Duncan
Customer Service Manager
Tesco Customer Service

You can watch a video on halal slaughter HERE

Tesco reluctant to refund Christian woman who unknowingly bought halal lamb

A Christian woman who unknowingly bought a joint of halal lamb from Tesco returned it to the store for a refund. The duty manager told her she could not have a refund unless the meat was 'faulty'.

Upon pointing out that a muslim wouldn't be treated in the same way, the woman was finally given a refund.

I have tried time and time again to get Tesco to answer my questions on the meat they sell but have never been given a response.

Yesterday I again sent emails to five top supermarkets including Tesco. So far I have had a response from two of them...

WAITROSE

Thank you for your e-mail.

In light of recent media reports we would like to take this opportunity to clarify our policy regarding our lamb.

Our approach and priority for all of our meat is to ensure animal welfare of the highest standard, approved by the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA). Our practices are also in line with the recommendations of Compassion in World Farming and the RSPCA.

All our lamb is electrically stunned before slaughter meaning that animals are unconscious and are not subjected to pain. UK law currently permits halal slaughter both with stunning and without.

Other UK supermarkets also follow this practice.

To give our customers a choice, our Duchy Originals from Waitrose lamb is not halal.

However, we will continue to allow the halal blessing for the rest of our lamb so that abattoirs can sell the parts of the carcass that we don't use to other markets - this minimises food waste, keeps prices down for our customers and helps our farmers to compete against foreign imports.

We have placed information about the slaughter process for our lamb on our website so that customers can make an informed decision.

Regards,
Chris Zawadzki
Waitrose Customer Sales and Support.

CO-OP/ SOMERFIELDS

Dear XXXXXXX

Thank you for your email concerning the sale of halal meat.

I hope that you will find the following information useful and that it will alleviate the concerns that you have regarding this matter.

All own-brand fresh and frozen meat and poultry sold in Co-operative and Somerfield stores has been humanely stunned prior to slaughter, and all abattoirs and processing plants supplying our own-brand products are required to work to the standards laid down by the Humane Slaughter Association in their Codes of Practice.

All our own-brand meat and poultry, with the exception of seasonal New Zealand lamb, is British Farm Assured. We require the New Zealand farms, abattoirs and processing plants to adopt the same high welfare standards as we expect from sites in the UK.

As is the case with the overwhelming majority of lamb from New Zealand, our own-brand lamb from New Zealand is slaughtered in accordance with halal procedure, but, as detailed above, all animals are humanely stunned prior to slaughter. As the process used for all our own-brand lamb is essentially the same, and the welfare of the animal is not compromised at any stage, we do not label any of the lamb as halal.

All our own-brand British lamb has been humanely stunned prior to slaughter, to the standards laid down by the Humane Slaughter Association in their Codes of Practice. We do not specify halal in our product specification, although some supplying sites do produce (pre-stunned) halal lamb for other customers.

We sell British lamb and New Zealand lamb seasonally. We do not sell any own-brand halal beef or chicken. We sell a halal-labelled branded chicken range in three stores in London, but again the birds used for these products are pre-stunned before slaughter.

I do hope that the above information provides you with reassurance. Should you require any further information or assistance please contact me on our Freephone number 0800 0686 727 or by email to my personal mailbox danielle.lewis@co-operative.coop

Yours Sincerely

Danielle Lewis Customer Relations Office

As soon as I receive a response from the other stores I will put them up.

White trash? That's not racist, it's only banter

Boz Rahman, taken from facebook

It is not so long ago that a woman trying to post a parcel to her son in the army was turned away by the asian postmaster.

It is not so long ago that an asian working in Asda wouldn't serve a woman because she was wearing a bracelet that showed support for our troops.

And now we come to today's story...

Three weeks ago, an asian man working at Waltham abbey's Sainsbury's was suspended for saying our troops in Afghanistan got everything they deserved (while sporting an Al Qaeda scarf) and calling someone 'white trash'.

The man, who constantly throws the race card. has got away with it by stating 'it was only a bit of banter'.

This person, Boz Rahman, is due to start back at Sainsbury's on Sunday, thanks to USDAW, the union he left two years ago. USDAW said 'it was up to them if they represented him and the convenor chose to'.

USDAW donated nearly £800,000 to Labour last year. In fact, Labour rely heavily on union funding and it is estimated they received around £10million in 2008.

ASDA HALAL PROFIT BEFORE ETHICS

A personal opinion from Michael Clarke

Ripley and Heanor News report HERE

Amber Valley Borough Council meet later this month to give the go ahead for the new Asda superstore in Langley Mill. You can't just turn your nose up at 300 jobs, but the moral ethics of this company leave a lot to be desired.

They wouldn't sell real fur coats in their clothing department would they? But ritually slaughtered meat, killed without stunning, is acceptable when there's a market for it.

See Sunday Express report HERE

For those of you with a strong stomach, here is a link to an undercover video of what goes off in a Halal slaughterhouse.

** WARNING: If you are under eighteen or find scenes of animal cruelty offensive please don't watch this video. WARNING**

The video can be found by clicking on the link: HALAL SLAUGHTER VIDEO

** WARNING: If you are under eighteen or find scenes of animal cruelty offensive please don't watch this video. WARNING**

Why is this practice allowed in this country? Why aren't our politicians up in arms? Where are the RSPCA?

I think we all know the answer.

Vile comments from vile 'people'

Oh dear. The truth really hurts some people.

Newspapers are finally starting to filter through stories about how multiculturalism is really affecting the British people and some of you out there don't like it.

Resorting to vile comments is not the correct way to handle any situation, but if that is the way you choose to go then please remember to withhold your email address.

This morning I received a lovely message from someone called zed on the 'Asian clerks snubs British mum' story, on which he said "fuk u lyin hoe". It's quite mild actually, considering some I receive.

I hate to be the one to tell him this but the story was taken from a newspaper, as are nearly all my articles.

So, I thought some of you out there may like to tell zed what a silly, nasty little boy he is. Here is his email address...

zedz65@hotmail.com

Note to zed... Learn English. Classes are free.

"Asian" Clerk Snubs British Mum for Supporting Injured Troops

MUM-of-three Beth Hoyle claims an Asda till worker refused to serve her because she was wearing a wristband backing injured troops.

Beth says the checkout lad told her the band for Help for Heroes - aided by The Sun - meant she supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And when she complained to a supervisor, he BACKED the Asian youth, saying he was entitled to his view.

Beth, 40, who has two brothers in the services, said the checkout worker told her he didn't want to serve her because of "what she was wearing."

Shocked Beth, of Whitworth, Greater Manchester, said that at first she thought the youth at Asda's Rochdale store meant a cross round her neck.

"He pointed to my Help for Heroes wristband and accused me of supporting the war. I told him it was nothing to do with the war, but about supporting our injured troops.

"I immediately complained to a supervisor, but he said it was his right not to serve me. I was disgusted."

An Asda spokeswoman said they were "shocked" by the claims but had found no evidence that the incident happened in their store.

She added: "We are big supporters of the Help for Heroes campaign and we sell the pin badges and wristband in hundreds of our stores."

A. Taylor

Let Asda know how you feel and boycott their Rochdale store