Faizel Patel, 2016-08-11
The South African National Halaal Authority (SANHA) says claims of a hygiene rule which prevents people who have beards or using a beard net from working in the food industry is unacceptable.
This follows the incident of two Muslim culinary students whose internships were terminated at the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani hotels in KwaZulu-Natal after they refused to shave off their beards.
In a statement to Radio Islam, Tsogo Sun says they have a hygiene policy in their hotel kitchens that includes restrictions on facial hair and that these restrictions are also included in the Capsicum Culinary Studio’s course notes, which are signed by all students prior to taking their placements.
SANHA’s Moulana Muhammad Saeed Navlakhi says the termination of the Muslim students internships because of the hygiene policy is unacceptable.
“The common practice, I mean we’ve seen let along Muslims, we’ve seen a lot of non-Muslim people donning beards in the food industry and that it why they make beard nets. So I can’t understand why this type of attitude has come out from a place like Tsogo Sun especially in the heart of Durban where they are exposed to Muslim people all the time.”
Moulana Navlakhi says while the problem of cross-contamination is a reality and a problem in the food industry, Muslims continue to patronise these restaurants and kitchens that are not exclusively halaal.
“The industry has coined this term ‘halaal friendly’ and if I refer to our previous gazette that we published in April, there is an entire lead article that we’ve given this issue of ‘halaal friendly’. It’s as friendly as friendly fire.”
Moulana Navlakhi says while there was an opportunity for SANHA to visit the kitchens of the Elangeni & Maharani hotel, he is not aware of any credible certification that either of these facilities may have.
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