Hong Kong  - Halal meals, prepared according to strict Islamic guidelines, are being served to Hong Kong Muslims in some public hospitals for the first time, a media report said Saturday.

"Noting their [the Muslims] difference in dietary culture, we decided to introduce a halal meal set," Vivian Wong, co-ordinator for the Hospital Authority in New Territories West, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

The initiative was launched at four hospitals in Hong Kong's New Territories and the scheme could be launched territory-wide according to the paper.

The recipes, cooking process and kitchen were approved and certified by a governing body of local Islamic affairs.

Halal food is cooked using separate utensils to ensure it is not contaminated by forbidden ingredients, while the meat used comes from animals slaughtered according to religious rules.

Union, an ethnic minority group, welcomed the new policy and urged that it be expanded to other hospitals.

"To take it a step further, they should add menus and food whose appearance are user-friendly for the minorities," said campaign director Fermi Wong, who added that a hospital meal consisting mainly of rice might not suit Pakistani or Indian patients. (dpa)