Meat Industry rounds on 'halal mischief making'

Meat industry rounds on halal ‘mischief making’

By Scheherazade Daneshkhu and Jim Pickard

The British meat industry and religious leaders have expressed surprise at a wave of criticism of halal slaughter, pointing out that there is no technical difference between mainstream methods of killing animals and those used in most halal meat.

Tabloid newspapers have levelled accusations of “fowl play” and “halal secrets” at supermarkets and restaurants, complaining that they are foisting halal meat on consumers without telling them, after it emerged most New Zealand lamb sold in supermarkets comes from halal abattoirs. High-street restaurant chains, including ­PizzaExpress, also use meat from chickens slaughtered in accordance with halal procedures

Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, called on food producers and vendors to provide more information. “Quite understandably, consumers want to know more and more about how the food arrived on their plate,” he said.

But the British meat industry complained of “mischief-making”, pointing to research from the Food Standards Agency showing that 97 per cent of cattle, 90 per cent of sheep and 96 per cent of poultry were stunned before slaughter.

Eblex, the English beef and sheep producers’ organisation, said there was no technical difference between the standard British method of slaughter – stunning animals and then slitting their throats to bleed them – and that used in most halal killing. The main variation in halal was that a prayer had to be said by a practising Muslim during slaughter.

“Halal does not mean non-stun per se,” Eblex said. “Irrespective of what some headlines scream at the public, it’s imperative to take a step back and look at the facts”.

“What kills the animal is having its vital arteries cut; it doesn’t die from stunning,” explained Stephen Rossides, director of the British Meat Processors Association.

Supermarkets and restaurant chains also rejected accusations that they were allowing animals to be killed using cruel methods. Most meat and chicken used for halal meat was slaughtered to the same welfare standards as other meat.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents most of the groceries sold in the UK, stated: “All own-brand meat from major UK supermarkets comes from animals that have been stunned before they are killed.”

PizzaExpress, the high-street chain, said the halal-approved chicken served in its restaurants was stunned before being slaughtered.

The UK operates under European Union rules which normally require stunning before animal slaughter. But the rules have an opt-out clause for “religious rites” that exempts animals from being stunned.

The Muslim community is divided over whether stunning of animals is allowed before bleeding, though the majority of halal meat is stunned – 81 per cent of sheeps and goats and 88 per cent of poultry, according to the latest Food Standards Agency report available.

Jewish shechita slaughter does not permit mechanical or electrical stunning of animals before bleeding but proponents argue that the neck incisions made in shechita immediately render the animal unconscious because the blood supply to the brain ceases.

John Blackwell, president-elect of the British Veterinary Association, said he opposed the opt-out clause and called for all animals entering the food chain to to be stunned.

He was backed by other animal welfare groups, including the Humane Slaughter Association. “We’ve no objection to halal,” said the BVA. “The issue is entirely about stunning.”

Viva, the vegetarian group, called for labelling that tells consumers whether or not animals have been stunned before slaughter.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs rejected the idea of mandatory stunning. Although it preferred animals to be unconscious before slaughter, “we respect the rights of Jewish and Muslim communities to eat meat in accordance with their beliefs. The government has no intention of banning religious slaughter.”

A Downing Street spokesman said David Cameron did not believe the government needed to intervene over the labelling of kosher and halal products: “The prime minister’s view is that the approach we currently have is absolutely the right one.”

Or, as a Jewish and a Muslim leader wrote in a joint letter published in the Daily Telegraph today: “If two chickens reared in exactly the same conditions are both electrocuted until they are unconscious and then one goes into an enormous machine which scalds, feathers and decapitates it, while the other goes to a Muslim who happens to be reciting a prayer, why are critics quite content with the former but up in arms about the latter?”


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/779108aa-d6c9-11e3-907c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz31Dyr8Xg9

Says it all really.

It does.

I have also been thinking how really people should be far more outraged at the awful conditions in which animals are kept; battery farmed chickens for instance; which effect the animal and keep it suffering its whole life- not the extremely short time in which it is killed.

Eilzel wrote:It does.

I have also been thinking how really people should be far more outraged at the awful conditions in which animals are kept; battery farmed chickens for instance; which effect the animal and keep it suffering its whole life- not the extremely short time in which it is killed.

Except for some, it was never about the practice of halal slaughter, this was evident when Kosher was never mentioned. Did you not see the point Tess said this morning about Jews how they had integrated into society, which I agree they have, even though they have been on the end of years of persecution.
A Jew can wear Orthodox dress and integrates, but a Muslim gets called slated for not adopting western dress. A Jew can have Kosher, but a Muslim cannot have halal. A Jew can worship in a Synagogue, but a Muslim cannot worship in a Mosque. Jews can have Beth Din courts, but Muslims cannot have Shariah. The Jews follow the Torah which has Herem promoted within its pages, the systematic genocides of peoples commanded by their deity and called a peaceful religion, the Quran advocates violence in defense of transgression and is called evil.

To me you see the hypocritical pattern which when responded to as I have done is then normally responded by claiming Jews do not blow up people, except of course they do in Palestine, Lebanon etc and you only have to see the terrorist attacks on the British in Palestine. So why is it some except some of one faith and not one of another, when both have so many similarities, I could list countless more?

The saddest part is that once the arguments used against Muslims today were once used to promote prejudice views against Jews (they still are in places) before and clearly some do not learn anything from history.

I think perhaps if the media payed as much attention to kosher meat as they do to halal, and actually gave the facts, that Muslims have adapted halal to our ways, there would be uproar over kosher. And therein lies the rub. Anything about the jewish faith is handled with kid gloves, understandably after the last war. But that means that the true picture is never given, and hatred is stirred up against Muslims, under the pretext of halal, when in fact they have adapted to suit us and kosher hasn't.

Eilzel wrote:It does.

I have also been thinking how really people should be far more outraged at the awful conditions in which animals are kept; battery farmed chickens for instance; which effect the animal and keep it suffering its whole life- not the extremely short time in which it is killed.

They definitely should!

Eilzel wrote:It does.

I have also been thinking how really people should be far more outraged at the awful conditions in which animals are kept; battery farmed chickens for instance; which effect the animal and keep it suffering its whole life- not the extremely short time in which it is killed.

I do check the labels which state clearly FREE RANGE and I buy those  ::D::

    THE term "Free Range" in itself can be grossly abused however, as well...

Some large poultry producers have been found to be only letting their birds out to graze for a few hours at a time, and then go on to falsely claim that all of their stock are raised under "free range" conditions.

And meanwhile the sad truth is something completely different ~ the only way to be sure is to actually see where the birds are being grown and processed for yourself..

Supermarkets and butcher shops just happen to sell a lot more "free range" and "organically grown" poultry and meat products then is actually being produced each year.

Labelling and legislation is pretty useless when it's not being properly enforced and regulated..  ::resmahauth:: 

David wrote:

Eilzel wrote:It does.

I have also been thinking how really people should be far more outraged at the awful conditions in which animals are kept; battery farmed chickens for instance; which effect the animal and keep it suffering its whole life- not the extremely short time in which it is killed.

I do check the labels which state clearly FREE RANGE and I buy those  ::D::

My eggs are very free range, we keep our own chickens.

We dont eat the chickens though, although when I let them out in a morning I always say, any eggs girls? No? Which one of you is dinner tonight then. Keeps them on their toes.   

harvesmom wrote:

David wrote:

I do check the labels which state clearly FREE RANGE and I buy those  ::D::

My eggs are very free range, we keep our own chickens.

We dont eat the chickens though, although when I  let them out in a morning I always say, any eggs girls? No? Which one of you is dinner tonight then. Keeps them on their toes.   

A mate has  Bantams so get most my eggs from him. Occasionally I have to shop buy     and what a difference, tasteless and colourless  in comparison.

Lone Wolf wrote:
    THE term "Free Range" in itself can be grossly abused however, as well...

Some large poultry producers have been found to be only letting their birds out to graze for a few hours at a time, and then go on to falsely claim that all of their stock are raised under "free range" conditions.

And meanwhile the sad truth is something completely different ~ the only way to be sure is to actually see where  the birds are being grown and processed for yourself..

Supermarkets and butcher shops just happen to sell a lot more "free range" and "organically grown" poultry and meat products then is actually being produced each year.

Labelling and legislation is pretty useless when it's not being properly enforced and regulated..   ::resmahauth:: 

Same thing goes with "fair trade" labeled goods:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/sep/16/fairtrade-cadbury-starbucks-nestle-kraft

harvesmom wrote:

David wrote:

I do check the labels which state clearly FREE RANGE and I buy those  ::D::

My eggs are very free range, we keep our own chickens.

We dont eat the chickens though, although when I  let them out in a morning I always say, any eggs girls? No? Which one of you is dinner tonight then. Keeps them on their toes.   

HAHAHA brilliant.   

The "meat industry" wants to shut its damn mouth and do as its told...

It is the worst controlled and least disciplined of all the food chain,
It has had more calamities than any other part of our food supply....

remember the horse burgers..remember the german meat that was contaminated by spinal material (banned because of BSE)

harvesmom wrote:

David wrote:

I do check the labels which state clearly FREE RANGE and I buy those  ::D::

My eggs are very free range, we keep our own chickens.

We dont eat the chickens though, although when I  let them out in a morning I always say, any eggs girls? No? Which one of you is dinner tonight then. Keeps them on their toes.