Muslim man on SIA flight served prosciutto, asks if it's pork, allegedly told it's not & ends up eating it

While on a Singapore Airlines flight to New York, a Muslim business-class passenger was served an unfamiliar dish.

The dish was labelled "Grilled Mediterranean Salad with Prosciutto".

Unsure what "prosciutto" was, he asked the cabin crew about its contents, and whether it was bacon.

They apparently told him that it was not, and safe to eat. Assured, he began eating.

But he soon felt uneasy due to the "unfamiliar" taste and texture.

Prosciutto is pork

The man, a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) who gave his name as Jey, said that he finally decided to look up the meaning of "prosciutto".

He then learnt that it was indeed pork.

"I was in complete shock," Jey said, adding that he has been a practising Muslim for over three decades.

When confronted, the crew allegedly suggested that they might have misheard him.

They later supposedly admitted that the crew who had served him were junior staff who "did not know prosciutto was pork".

Offered frequent flyer miles

After the unfortunate incident, Jey filed a complaint with Singapore Airlines.

He was offered a S$150 KrisShop voucher, which he declined.

They upped the compensation to 15,000 KrisFlyer miles, and then to 30,000 miles. He declined both, and called the offers — which were labelled "goodwill gestures" — "saddening and insulting".

"No person of faith — Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or otherwise — would ever willingly break a sacred dietary law in exchange for 30,000 miles," he told Mothership.

He pointed out that he had paid around S$10,000 for the flight.

Asked what he thought would be a more appropriate solution, he said: "Commitment to improve the menu and understand the gravity of this."

SIA has still not explained "how their crew didn’t know something as basic as the fact that prosciutto is pork", he said.

He has since filed another complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Meals booked

Jey clarified that prior to his flight, he had selected the Muslim meal for his refreshment.

For his lunch meal service, he selected the "Book the Cook" option, with a nasi briyani main.

It came with the prosciutto dish as a fixed appetiser, he said.

While he did not select the Muslim meal for this meal service, he highlighted that there was no pork label on the dish.

According to SIA's website, dishes containing pork do not appear to bear indicative labels.

In email correspondence shared with Mothership, an SIA customer service personnel apologised that the "cabin crew was initially uncertain whether the prosciutto was pork".

The cabin crew served him the food "without confirmation", according to the email.

"Upon realising that the prosciutto, dry cured ham was pork, we note that our crew had quickly apologised to you and offered you alternatives but understand that you had rejected [these]."

Mothership understands that on flights with more than one meal service, special meals — such as Muslim meals — must be selected for all of the services.

On SQ24, an 18-hour flight from Singapore to New York, there are three meal services, including the refreshment course.

SIA's response

In response to Mothership's queries, SIA confirmed that the passenger had been served a dish containing pork and apologised for the distress caused.

"When our cabin crew members became aware that the customer does not consume pork, they immediately apologised, removed the dish, and offered an alternative," the spokesperson said.

They added that they have since strengthened their cabin crew training and service procedures, and remain in direct contact with the affected customer.

The spokesperson said:

"We advise customers with special dietary requirements, including religious needs, to pre-book their special meals for all meal services before their flights."

Top image from Canva and AC aviation photography/Facebook