TAKEAWAY giant Domino's has pizza-ed off customers by taking pork off the menu and serving only HALAL meat.
The group have opened the first halal-only pizza store in the country, catering to the needs of Muslim customers in the mixed race area of Hall Green, Birmingham.
The controversial menu change means Brummie pizza lovers hoping to tuck into classic pizzas like a Hawaiian with ham and pineapple will be disappointed.
Instead, they will have to travel over two miles to the next closest Domino's branch, something which has angered some non-Muslim customers who say they are being discriminated against.
One disgruntled punter Chris Yates, 29, a hospital worker living in Moseley said he was told he couldn't have a "Meteor" pizza, topped with pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, ground beef and smoky bacon, when he called up at the weekend.
"It's a disgrace, I can appreciate them having it as an option but to have it completely halal is just not on."
Halal items on the menu include halal spicy beef sausage, roast and tandoori chicken, halal pepperoni and halal cured turkey – all produced and stored within the Halal Food Authorities guidelines.
A spokesman for Domino's, who recently announced profits were up 33 per cent, said: "In that particular area of Birmingham there are a large number of Muslims so there is naturally more of a demand for halal based products.
"We appreciate we cannot please everybody but there are alternatives, such as turkey ham, and we have thought long and hard about this decision and we are sure it is the right one."
As Muslims are forbidden from eating pork, the hawaiian pizza on the store's menu has halal cured turkey.
Domino's says the change has improved business.
A spokesman said: 'In that particular area of Birmingham there is a large number of Muslims so there is more of a demand for halal products.'
The spokesman confirmed 'a couple' of other locations have been identified where they think halal-only could work.
Masood Khawaja, President of the Halal Food Authority, said: 'It's good news for Muslims, with changing palates, who want a bit of variety in their diet. This is only the beginning and we are delighted that Domino's is participating in this trend.
'For those who aren't happy about it I would say to them that the only change to the menu is pork and all the other meat tastes the same.'
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