I agree, a tempest in a teapot. The clerk was said to be apologetic, it would be very different if there had been any rudeness or hostility displayed. I own a retail shop and it has happened many times an Orthodox customer will come in to "purchase "an item but not be able to pay for it until Shabbat has ended. I always accommodate however I can imagine the reaction if this happened in a shop not understanding of Judaic law. We should strive to understand each other's differences.

seriously? uv'e gotta be kidding! its not like the seller needs to taste the food! i'm sure its not forbidden to touch alcohol or touch bacon and even if it is, the company should move every seller that doesn't want to sell those things into the electronic department. why should the customer be harmed?

Here we have Muslim workers too , and they do not destroy the companies that feed them

Observing Shabbat means no religious Jew would ever come into a shop and purchase anything regardless of paying for it or not . This has always been the practice. which has an entirely religious foundation However Muslims not handling sealed bottles of Alcohol at M&S cash tills is a somewhat new phenomenon. One suspects it has more to do with a political agenda where a burgeoning immigrant population is striving to assert its authority .

I dont see the problem of touching/handling a sealed bottle of alcohol. No one asked the sales assistant to take a swig from the bottle! Of course its a political agenda.

If anything, Mark and Spencer is targeting Muslim customers by showing how sensitive they are to their believes . This policy means one thing, more business from Muslims.

....knows what it's doing.

Marks and Spencer has always been primarily a clothing retailer. Selling food is a recent addition. An employee could work his entire career in M and S and never enter the food section, which are often in separate buildings. I buy clothes in M and S but buy food elsewhere because I object to Britain's best known Jewish retailer selling pork.