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Muslim raises dispute over labeling of meat
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Muslim raises dispute over labeling of meat
FREMONT MAN SAYS UNMARKED PORK WAS IN BEEF SECTION; STORE DEFENDS PRACTICES
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
As a practicing Muslim, Faraj Tabari had never let pig products touch his lips. Until this summer.
On June 6 at Fremont's Food Maxx, the Palestinian immigrant bought a package of boneless ``country style ribs,'' which he intended to use in a delicacy called paya, traditionally made with cow's feet. He claims the package wasn't labeled and was sitting in the beef section. Not being a pork eater or a native to this country, he says he didn't realize ``country style ribs'' means pork.
But upon tasting his dinner, he was sure something was wrong.
``When I ate it, the texture was different than anything I ever had before,'' said the 44-year-old laid-off Caltrans civil engineer from Fremont.
When he returned to the store and a manager told him the meat was pork, Tabari threw the rest out. Then he threw up. He washed out his cooking pot with chlorine and sterilized his dishwasher.
Now, he's hired a lawyer to demand Food Maxx stop peddling its pork products as generic meat, which the law firm alleges violates two state health codes.
Food Maxx meat managers on Thursday stood by their labeling practices, saying they always specify whether a product is beef or pork. But they couldn't explain why Tabari and his lawyers provided three labels from meat bought without the word ``pork'' on it.
Late in the day, Food Maxx spokeswoman Sally Sanborn said an investigation revealed it was a company mistake.
``It was a glitch in our computer that has been fixed,'' she said.
She said the company uncovered the problem as a result of Tabari's complaints and a letter sent by his lawyers July 28. ``We're now monitoring the situation,'' Sanborn said. ``Our policy is to label everything. We're sorry this happened.''
Farhan Memon, a legal assistant at San Francisco's Berschler Associates, which is representing Tabari, said the company's response is not good enough. He said the company had six weeks to figure out the problem after Tabari first complained, but that Food Maxx only responded when lawyers and the media began inquiring.
``How long was this problem going on beforehand?'' Memon asked. ``And how much harm already had been done?''
The meat mix-up highlights an important issue for the Bay Area's diverse shopping clientele. Muslims, and Jews as well, follow dietary rules that forbid them to eat anything made from pig.
``It's a very big deal,'' said Hamid Mavani, spiritual leader at Oakland's Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California. ``If it was mislabeled, it's a big issue from the Muslim perspective. It is as if you were to buy a soft drink and it turned out to be alcohol or wine. It should not be taken lightly.''
There are truth-in-labeling laws to make sure all consumers are protected. ``Consumers are entitled to know what they're getting,'' said Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Chris Carpenter, head of the consumer fraud unit. ``For religious reasons, some people don't want to eat pork, or they don't want to eat whatever. People should not be lied to.''
Carpenter prosecuted Safeway's Pak'n Save stores in 1993, after it was discovered some East Bay stores were mixing lamb, poultry and pork scraps into packages labeled ``fresh ground beef.'' The company paid a $6 million settlement. Carpenter said there haven't been any real mystery meat prosecutions in the county since.
Robin Wakshull, a consumer fraud assistant district attorney in Santa Clara County, said that people with certain allergies also may need to know what they're buying. She prosecuted the former chef at San Jose's Bella Mia restaurant when a Mercury News investigation in 2000 discovered he was substituting pork for veal, without the owner's knowledge, because he thought it was a superior meat product.
Food Maxx representatives insist they are not tricking the public.
Jim Pucci, a Food Maxx risk manager at corporate headquarters in Modesto, said he visited half a dozen Food Maxx stores in the Bay Area on Thursday and hadn't found any other labeling problems. He also said the Fremont store had tried to refund Tabari for all his groceries that day and would do anything to make him a ``happy camper.''
Tabari and his lawyers say they don't want any money but want the grocery chain to tighten up its labeling.
Sy El Seudy, the meat manager at Fremont's Food Maxx -- who, coincidentally, is Muslim himself -- wondered why, if Tabari were so devout, he was trying to buy regular beef instead of meat that is halal, or prepared according to Islamic law. Food Maxx carries a small selection of such meats.
Tabari said his wife usually does the shopping -- and buys halal -- but she was out of town when he made his fateful shopping trip. Sometimes, he buys meat at regular stores and blesses the food himself.
Mavani, from the Islamic cultural center, said one school of Sunni Muslim thought permits Muslims to eat non-halal meat as long as they make a prayer over the meal.
``It's not highly encouraged,'' Mavani said, ``but permissible.''
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This makes me mental, and is only a small reason why I'll never believe in any religion. I swear religion causes people do to even more retarded things than a high weed smoker.
Now that I have that outa the way. This guy just isn't very bright if he can't tell the difference between pork and beef by looking at it. If he doesn't understand the way we label things in America then I suggest he move his ass back to the country he came from and he won't have a problem with shit like this. For this guy to compare pork/beef to a soft drink/alcohol is just dumb. I suggest this asshole take a huge bite of pork, choke on it, and die. The world will be a better place without stupid people like him.
I just had to add, I laughed my ass off when I read that he puked once he realized he ate pork. 
Something else I just realized, I'm a mean prick. 
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