Pizza Express Halal Chicken?
There are news stories circulating about Pizza Express using halal chicken in their restaurants. This does not make Pizza Express halal chicken pizzas automatically safe to eat by default. Muslims must exercise caution. The mere fact that Pizza Express is not advertising itself as a halal eating outlet should warrant caution. This move is not to extend their customer base. Halal chicken is cheaper and usually better quality than its non-halal counter-part, and this move, I believe, is based on a supply chain decision and not on a marketing one. I called their head office and asked them to let me know who their supplier is and who their certifying authority is.
I urge caution since they are still serving pork pizzas and other non-halal meats. The dangers of cross contamination are very high, unless you can gain an assurance from the chef preparing your pizza that he washes is hands properly, obtains the chicken from a fresh bag and uses a properly cleaned pan to cook it in.
Luckily, in our local Pizza Express, one of the chefs there is Muslim, a chap called “Magid” [Majid]. I spoke to him and raised my concerns and he gave me a personal assurance that if I came in and ate, he would personally see to it that the pizza would be fit for Muslim consumption.