By Elham Asaad Buaras

A Birmingham school principal has apologised after Muslim pupils were accidentally fed bacon in supposed halal chicken sandwiches.

Executive Principal of Ninestiles School in Acocks Green, Chris Quinn, posted an apology on its website, which she put down to “human error”.

The halal food error was discovered by a Muslim teacher who had bought one of the baguettes at lunch in July, during the last week before the summer break.

The teacher, who has now left the school, said: “All the halal food is meant to be labelled clearly as halal and I took what I believed was a halal chicken and sweetcorn baguette.

“But after eating it I became aware of a smoky smell and taste. As I looked inside I was horrified to find that there were pieces of what I thought were ham.”

She approached catering staff who confirmed the mislabeled baguette contained bacon, the teacher said.

“I felt physically repulsed, terribly upset. I had never eaten pork before and couldn’t believe I was eating it by mistake at school,” she said.

The teacher complained to the school immediately and an investigation was launched, with the full apology issued this month.

In her website apology Quinn said: “It has come to the school’s notice that a small number of sandwiches, sold on 17 July, which were labelled as halal, contained products which were not halal.

“The school apologises for this unfortunate mistake. It is an important part of Ninestiles’ ethos that we meet the dietary requirements of all our students and staff.

“The school is taking steps to ensure its suppliers meet their commitment to the school’s expectations with regards to food standards. The school is also reviewing its own procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.

“We apologise to anyone who inadvertently ate one of this small number of sandwiches.”

Source: The Muslim News