Employees of a kebab meat retailer were assaulted yesterday after a tabloid revealed that it had sold beef that contained traces of pork to numerous kebab shops.
Several young men entered the premises of Tayyib Food in the western Copenhagen suburb of Taastrup and assaulted the director and another employee. The victims had to be taken to an area A&E to be treated for their wounds.
“They just start hitting us while they shouted and screamed that we had sold them pork and that they had eaten pork because of us,” the company’s director told Ekstra Bladet.
Deputy police commissioner Brian Christensen from North Zealand Police confirmed the incident.
“A little after 2pm we received a call from the business that four or five young men had visited their office, shouted at them and assaulted two people,” Christensen told Ekstra Bladet, adding that the incident was likely directly related to Ekstra Bladet’s reporting.
Ekstra Bladet tested meat at nine kebab shops and found that four of the samples contained traces of pork. In one case more than one percent of the meat was pork.
The news shocked Denmark’s Muslim community, whose religion forbids them from eating pork, although organisation Danish Halal – which regulates food that is permitted for eating under Islamic practices – said it was not surprised by the news.
“We need to better control the market,” Danish Halal's deputy chairman, Kamran Iqbal, told Politiken newspaper. “It doesn’t surprise us that pork has been found in kebab meat. We know that dubious meat is certified as halal.”
Danish Halal’s website is now warning Muslim consumers to be careful when buying halal meat and to ensure that it is certified by a trustworthy organisation.
