A Singapore supermarket chain has had enough of an absurd labeling complaint that has been resurfacing online for the past three years.
NTUC FairPrice last night released a statement on Facebook addressing complaints about its house brand Arabiki pork sausages including “Arab” on the labels for being “insensitive” to Muslims.
Fairprice said they already switched changed the product’s label in April of last year to “Japanese Style Pork Sausage” in hopes of putting the matter to rest for good.
“Since the post first surfaced back in 2020, we have also changed our packaging to avoid any further misunderstanding,” the company wrote.
They clarified that “Arabiki” means coarsely ground in Japanese.
The complaint was first reported to the supermarket in July 2020 via a photo posted on Facebook with the caption: “Very insensitive!!! NTUC FairPrice. Look at the ingredients… why named Arab…? Be very careful my Muslims Family.”
Reactions to the photo were mostly from confused users who shot down the loony remark.
“Even if they are beef or chicken sausages, the onus is on the Muslims to check and verify that the meat is halal. Besides, being a Muslim has nothing to do with being an Arab,” Facebook user Whydah Ism wrote in 2020.
“What insensitivity?? The name serves its purpose […] We are not the only ones with language,” Nadia Hanim wrote on Tuesday.
“Only the uneducated is offended … same as those who read spice bottles and claim it contains pork,” Kuan Suan Wong wrote in reference to recent news of a Malaysian woman claiming that McCormick’s Cajun Seasoning is made with pork meat.
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