Parents fury as pork sausages are banned from the school menu and replaced with halal meat

Sausages, ham and other pork products have been banned at Brinsworth Manor Infant and Junior Schools in Rotherham

Just 20 per cent of the 600 pupils at the two schools are Muslim

Governors agreed to the change to make the school more inclusive



Rotherham Council said only serving halal meat was a 'minor adjustment'

The move comes as Britain's vets call for Muslims and Jews to use more 'acceptable' methods of killing



Parents have condemned a school's decision to ban all pork products from the menu and replace other meats with halal versions.

Pupils aged between three and 11 at Brinsworth Manor Infant and Junior Schools in Rotherham - which Ofsted identifies as having only a small number of pupils from minority ethnic groups - will no longer be able to enjoy sausages, bacon or ham.



Parents at both schools, which share a site, were told of the decision in a letter from Rotherham Council’s principal catering officer Ron Parry, who wrote that there had been ‘minor adjustments’ to the lunch menu.

Although just 20 per cent of the school's 600 pupils are Muslim the menu changes were reportedly brought in to make the school more inclusive

Parents were told of the decision in a letter from Rotherham Council¿s principal catering officer Ron Parry, who wrote that there had been ¿minor adjustments¿ to the lunch menu

The move comes as Britain's vet John Blackwell called for Muslims and Jews to use more 'acceptable' methods of killing.

And parents have branded the decision 'a scandal' as only twenty per cent of the 600 pupils are Muslim and the decision to provide halal meat was up to individual schools in the town.

A mother with an 11-year-old girl at the school, who asked not to be named for fear of being branded racist, said: 'At home I pay more for organic and free range food. I am a Christian but I don’t do it because of that, it’s more for the respect of how animals are killed.



'The way the animals are slaughtered for halal meat is a religious killing and I don’t feel it should be in schools.



'My daughter has been anxious about the change as she has concerns about if it is humane killing. I believe in animal welfare rights and standards of meat production that halal does not follow.



The school governors at both schools are understood to have agreed to the menu change to ensure the meals are more inclusive

'I feel as strongly against eating meat that had been blessed in the name of a god I don’t believe in and the animal killed in a way I do not agree with, as Muslims do against eating non-halal meat.



'The children love pork and it’s a scandal to take these meats off the menu to please, what I consider to be, a low number of children who require halal meat.

'The majority of the children are now having school meals that are made for the minority. The halal children have always had the vegetarian and fish options. '

Another mum of a son at the school said she believed that halal slaughtering was cruel.



She added : 'My son is a really fussy eater and pork is his favourite meat. He’ll get bored having chicken all the time.'



A mother of two said parents who do not know much about halal meat had not been given enough information or time to understand it.



She said : 'Normally the school is good at consulting parents but with this we have just been told what is going to happen.



'I’d want to know more about halal meat before I’d be happy for my children to eat it. I’ve been told it is not as well refrigerated.



'It would have been good to have know what Muslim parents thought and if they were unhappy with the vegetarian option on the menu.'



Halal slaughter is performed by a Muslim butcher in the name of Allah in a way to avoid severing the spinal cord.



Halal slaughter is performed by a Muslim butcher in the name of Allah in a way to avoid severing the spinal cord

The school governors at both schools are understood to have agreed to the menu change to ensure the meals are more inclusive.



A spokesman for Rotherham Borough Council confirmed that school meals at both Brinsworth Manor schools have changed and now include halal and non-halal meat on the menu.



She added that the Schools Catering Service supplies about 17,000 school meals every day to children at infant, junior, primary and secondary schools in Rotherham.



She said: 'The provision of both halal and non-halal is not unusual in Rotherham's school. Currently, nine schools out of 115, select one of our menus that provide a mix of both halal and non-halal meals.



'All meat on our menus, including halal, is sourced from reputable companies, which fully comply with the quality standards of the relevant individual meat boards.



'The meals are also nutritionally balanced and cooked fresh on-site every day using locally sourced meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy products where possible.



'Our menus are designed to meet both national nutritional standards and dietary requirements so that all the children of Rotherham benefit.'