It’s not every day that a misprint stirs the pot quite like this. Food Lover’s Market found itself diep innie sop after the Access Park branch was mistakenly labelled as halaal certified by the National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT).
What followed was a flurry of investigations, clarifications and assurances from the Islamic Council of South Africa (ICSA), as well as a request for people to stop panicking.
The “mislabelling” was brought to the attention of the NIHT, after one of their employees noted a printing error in a newspaper.
Moulana Shuaib Parkar from the NIHT explains: “When we were alerted about the printing error, we immediately launched an internal investigation.
“Both head offices from the NIHT and Food Lovers Market were informed. We later found that it might have been a misprint error.
“We do however certify Food Lovers branches, but not the one in Access Park. In fact, we certify Johannesburg branches.”
Parkar adds that Food Lovers Access Park confirmed that they are halaal certified by presenting a certificate from the ICSA.
The Food Chain Franchise also went onto social media to apologise for the confusion.
“We sincerely apologise for the misinformation published regarding the halaal certification status of our Food Lover’s Market Access Park store.
“We understand how important it is for our Muslim customers to have clear and accurate information about our services,” the chain franchise said.
“We want to clarify that while we mistakenly stated that our store is NIHT-certified, our service departments – Butchery, Hot Foods and Bakery – are indeed ICSA-certified.”
Moulana Zakaryah Philander from the Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust also asked people to stop panicking.