Food choices could be used for profiling (Picture: Rex)

Muslims have been warned that they could potentially be profiled if they order halal food on plane journeys.

It comes after Marina Ripa-Braescu, a senior Swiss Airlines official, told a conference on border security that airlines could gather information about passengers’ based on their in flight meal choices.

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Middle East Eye reported that she told the audience: ‘For example, if they order a Muslim or kosher or vegetarian meal, you already start to know a little bit about that person.’

This information could be ‘interesting’ to authorities, she said.


It sparked calls for non-Muslims to order halal meals (prepared according to Muslim custom) to ‘gum up’ the system in case any airlines did try to monitor people based on their religion.

Makes me want to order halal airport meals going forward just for fun of it @adeelamini https://t.co/NqQLbIuCI4 — Bea Vo (@London_Bea) December 15, 2016

#OFFS … Let's just *all* order halal meals. They often taste better than the usual fare anyway, especially on some Asian airlines. https://t.co/feuD2ys5D3 — Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan (@cheryltan88) December 15, 2016

Swiss Airlines say this was theoretical and they do not and would not pass this information onto governments, but it has raised alarm bells about what data could be gathered about people without them knowing, either now or in future.



‘Profiling of Muslims doesn’t take a registry – it can happen in countless little ways. Starting with lunch,’ activist Hend Amry tweeted.

Coronavirus news live: NHS Covid-19 app launched and Sunak prepares to launch furlough 2.0Others said the potential implications of being spied on based on what they ate had put them off ordering halal meals, and they would order vegetarian food instead.

Many Muslims have reported problems at airports, for example being reported for ‘suspicious’ things such as reading a book about Syrian art or speaking in Arabic.

NHS worker Faizah Shaheen,who was on her honeymoon, was pulled aside at Doncaster Airport in August and questioned for 15 minutes after airline staff saw her reading ‘Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline’.

I've never ordered halal or kosher meals on planes before. But I sure as hell will now, on every flight. Forget the… Posted by Ahmed Shihab-Eldin on Thursday, December 15, 2016

Commenting online, some said that they thought ordering halal might have been the reason they were ‘randomly’ taken aside and questioned at airports.

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a correspondent with Al Jazeera, said: ‘I’ve never ordered halal or kosher meals on planes before. But I sure as hell will now, on every flight.

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‘Forget the failure of morality, these actions don’t keep us safer, divide us, alienate us, and empower those who slaughter in the name of both perversions of religion and distortions of democracy.’

A spokesman for Swiss Airlines told Metro: ‘The SWISS representative that is mentioned explicitly highlighted during her speech at the conference that airlines are not allowed to transmit data which may convey the religion, health, political opinion etc. of a passenger (though these data might be interesting for certain authorities).

‘These data like the order of special meals (i.e. kosher, halal) or the booking of a wheelchair are not transmitted and will not be transmitted to the authorities.’