Source of halal food
containing 
pork DNA identified

Food distributor 3663 identified McColgan Quality Foods Limited, a Northern Ireland-based company, as the source of “the very small number of Halal savoury beef pastry products” found to contain pork DNA which it supplied to prisons.

In a statement, 3663 confirmed that all halal products from this manufacturer had been withdrawn from supply.

The statement said: “3663 would like to clarify that the very small number of halal savoury beef pastry products that have been withdrawn from supply were only ever distributed to custodial establishments.

“The products in question are from one particular food manufacturer, McColgan Quality Foods Limited, and have not been distributed to any other customer.

“All halal products from this manufacturer have been withdrawn,” the company said.

Islamic law forbids the consumption of pork.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has suspended 3663 – a supplier of meat to prisons – after discovering that food products may contain traces of non-halal meat, despite being sourced from McColgan Quality Foods Limited, which is a properly halal-certified supplier.

The distributor, 3663, has said it is “shocked” and described as “wholly unacceptable” that some of the halal products they supplied were found to contain pork DNA.

On an Invest Northern Ireland-backed website, McColgan Quality Foods – based in Strabane, County Tyrone –is said to be “approved for the preparation of halal product”.

The website lists as among McColgan customers popular supermarket brands including Lidl, Nisa, Spar and Costcutter.

It states McColgan specialises in “a wide range of chilled & frozen, sweet & savoury convenience foods for retail and foodservice”.

Currently, 3663 – the numbers in the name corresponding to the letters “FOOD” on a telephone number pad – is contracted to distribute a wide range of products including ambient, frozen, fresh and chilled foods to the MoJ, all sourced from fully accredited and approved manufacturers and producers.

Following the horsemeat scandal, 3663 recognised a potential connection between a halal beef producer mentioned within the FSAI (Food Safety Authority of Ireland) report and a supplier of Halal savoury beef pastry products stocked for the MoJ.

It informed the MoJ of the potential connection, then decided these halal savoury beef pastry products should be quarantined to prevent their use pending DNA testing.

The distributor initiated DNA testing on multiple production batches of the halal savoury beef pastry products from McColgan and “disappointingly” received evidence that within the products tested there were traces of porcine protein.

The company has removed all halal products from McColgan from the supply chain and said they would not source any further halal products from them.

In the statement, 3663 said: “Our sentiments echo those of the Ministry of Justice in that 
this is a wholly unacceptable situation and one that we deeply regret.

“We are, however, relieved that our own prompt actions following identifying a potential risk from the FSAI report enabled the earliest possible removal of these products from sale.”

A spokesman for McColgan’s described it as a “deeply regrettable and unforeseen incident”.

It said: “At no point has pork of any kind been included in the recipes of any of the halal-certified products” it supplies.

Following the discovery, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: “This is an absolutely unacceptable situation, and one which we regret greatly.