Pork in your mutton sausage?
HINDUS and Muslims may have been unwittingly buying mutton sausages containing pork at a major retailer and possibly elsewhere, sparking outrage and calls for an official probe.
The SA Tamil Federation (SATF) has called for a change in SA’s food labelling regulations to force butcheries to declare pork content in meat products.
And SA Muslim Network chairman Dr Faisal Suliman said it was incumbent on retailers and food suppliers to ensure the labelling is “clear, unambiguous and substantive”.
“There are many religious groups that abstain from consuming pork and surely they need to be made aware in clear, unambiguous labelling that a product contains pork,” Suliman said. “Faith-based groups are a large constituency and very often vocal and firm in their beliefs and therefore it is a market that food retailers and suppliers should be taking very seriously.”
SATF president Marie Pillay-Ramaya said a consumer had complained that Makro’s “Rich Mutton Sausages” contained pork casing, which was listed as an ingredient and not on the front of the pack. He said the store had refused to remove the product from the shelves, saying it complied with current food labelling regulations. Pillay-Ramaya has now called for the federation’s 600 000 members to be wary, saying he was “disgusted and furious” at finding pork in the sausages, which was “totally unacceptable”. He said religiously Hindus are forbidden from eating beef and pork.
“If Makro seriously cannot see what they are doing is wrong, directly or indirectly, by our religious standards, then we believe that we should boycott their meat products and butchery section. We are, however, prepared to engage in education-discussions with Makro,” Pillay-Ramaya said.
Regulations governing the composition and labelling of raw boerewors, raw species sausage and raw mixed-species sausage under the Foodstuffs Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act of 1972 require that “raw species sausage shall be manufactured predominantly from the meat of a specific animal or bird species” and that the sausage must contain a minimum of 75% meat of the predominant species. In the case of mixed species sausage, the names of species, in descending order of mass, followed by the word “sausage” must appear on the main panel of the label in letters at least 4mm in height. Labels must also declare ingredients – including the minimum percentage of meat and the maximum percentage of fat content – in descending order of mass.
Pillay-Ramaya has called for a change in regulations to require products to be labelled in bold letters as containing pork to alert consumers.
“If products have any other meats in them no matter which is the higher content, they should be labelled. For example, as ‘Sausages – 100% mutton’ (or) in big letters, ‘warning product contains pork’ demonstrating awareness,” he said.
Pillay-Ramaya said the federation planned to “engage” with the National Consumer Commission and to educate the industry on the matter before filing a formal complaint.
Joburg consumer Ivan Naicker said he read the food labelling regulations which prompted him to check the ingredients list on the sausage label at Strubens Valley Makro.
“This has really opened my eyes. When I e-mailed them (Makro) I saw they weren’t solving the problem and they were saying that what they are doing is correct as long as it is 75% mutton. But it’s not right, it should say on the front ‘contains pork’ especially for old people who can’t read the fine print,” Naicker said.
Makro spokesperson Annaleigh Vallie said the sausage was manufactured and labelled “fully compliant” with regulated species sausage standards, but the retailer had asked its supplier to highlight the presence of pork.
“The fact that the product contains pork is clearly indicated on the product label as per the labelling regulations. The sausage is not marketed or labelled as “100%” or “pure” mutton, both important descriptors that would indicate the absence of any other meat species in the product, including pork,” she said.
“The sausage contains 82% mutton, which exceeds the minimum regulatory requirement by 7%. In line with regulatory requirements, the presence of pork in the sausage is clearly indicated on the product labelling. The use of pork casings in the manufacture of ‘species’ sausages is standard butchery practice. We have, however, asked and the supplier has agreed to place additional emphasis on the label to indicate the use of pork casings.”
Emam Bux Meats Wholesale and Retail manager Stavros Pillay said there was “definitely a need to change regulations”.
“A sausage can be 75% mutton, beef or pork which is absolutely wrong, it is misleading. If it is labelled mutton it must contain mutton all the way,” Pillay said. “We manufacture our sausages with the purest of meat and do stipulate beef and mutton and we use separate machines which grind and cut.”
Major supermarkets assured consumers of their commitment to proper labelling.
Pick n Pay Group executive for corporate affairs and group strategy David North said: “Ingredient listing is very important for customers seeking particular information, as is certification for some communities, such as Halaal or Kosher. In all cases we work very hard to ensure that all information is accurate,” he said.
A Woolworths spokesperson said accurate labelling that provides appropriate information was a “priority – where a product is filled in a pork casing, it is clearly indicated as ‘filled in a hog casing’. A number of Woolworths boerewors and sausage products contain pork, but only the Woolworths beef bangers are filled in a pork casing and obvious pork products such as pork bangers.
This is clearly and accurately declared in the ingredient statement.”
Shoprite Checkers had not responded to questions at the time of publication.