Halal meat what s everyones take on it?

[ikarl]

Following on from the recent KFC thread where someone mentioned that most KFC is now Halal, I’ve been noticing over the last few years that Halal meat is becoming more and more common in the UK.... in supermarkets, takeaways, restaurants, and even places that don’t explicitly advertise it. It’s at the point now where it’s almost unavoidable unless you really go out of your way.

reflecting on that I've realised I don’t actually have a firm position on it. Most of what I’ve read online suggests it may be more stressful on the animal because of the slaughter method, so I probably lean towards thinking it’s on the cruel side,. but I’m not exactly an expert, and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there depending on the source.

I’m genuinely interested in what people on here think. I'm not trying to start an argument, or making a moral point, I'm just curious what everyone’s views or experiences are nowadays, especially as it hasn’t come up in a dedicated thread for a long time and the food landscape has changed a fair bit since then

[unzippy]

I don't give a st as it doesn't affect me in the slightest.

[grumbledoak]

If it is stunned first I don't much care what "prayers" are said.

[Terminator X]

I'd rather eat "regular" meat albeit imho it's easier for them to label halal as that way any religious fool can eat it.

TX.

[tight fart]

I don’t understand how or why we have so many animal welfare rules around the slaughter of animals that can be ignored if you believe in a different sky fairy.

[fat80b]

It does seem very strange to me that we have decided it's OK to slit an animal's throat and let it bleed out to death in a quite horrific way when we have much more humane ways of slaughter.

(And my "lived experience" is that I worked a summer in a Sheep Abattoir....where the animals were stunned and bolted)

[unzippy]

ikarl said:

Following on from the recent KFC thread where someone mentioned that most KFC is now Halal, I ve been noticing over the last few years that Halal meat is becoming more and more common in the UK.... in supermarkets, takeaways, restaurants, and even places that don t explicitly advertise it. It s at the point now where it s almost unavoidable unless you really go out of your way.

reflecting on that I've realised I don t actually have a firm position on it. Most of what I ve read online suggests it may be more stressful on the animal because of the slaughter method, so I probably lean towards thinking it s on the cruel side,. but I m not exactly an expert, and there s a lot of conflicting information out there depending on the source.

I m genuinely interested in what people on here think. I'm not trying to start an argument, or making a moral point, I'm just curious what everyone s views or experiences are nowadays, especially as it hasn t come up in a dedicated thread for a long time and the food landscape has changed a fair bit since then

Just to add, in the UK around 88% of halal slaughtered animals are stunned first. (Sauce - RSPCA)
There is no stunning going on for kosher slaughter - something the anti muslim brigade ignore..

[fat80b]

And the other oddity seems to be that this issue of Halal slaughter does seem to be a great example of the hypocritical nature of the Greens / Your party / Lefty alliance types.

i.e. - The coming together of Vegans and pro Halal slaughter views seems a particularly strange mix.......

(Although this aspect of the discussion might be better suited to NP&E)

[Sheets Tabuer]

Not an expert but I saw a film a few years ago showing that all chickens were hung up and went through a machine that lopped their heads off, I understand a speaker is played with the prayers as they go through now making them halal. No real difference really in the slaughter method.

Not happy about non stun slaughter for large animals though.

Hopefully someone will correct my misunderstanding.

[98elise]

grumbledoak said:

If it is stunned first I don't much care what "prayers" are said.

I'm atheist so couldn't give a crap about what religious ceremony somebody wants to perfrom, its not going make any difference.

I do care if there is any increased suffering for the animal. I know it's going to end up dead anyway, but that doesn't mean it can suffer while its alive.

[UTH]

tight fart said:

I don t understand how or why we have so many animal welfare rules around the slaughter of animals that can be ignored if you believe in a different sky fairy.

HAHAHA, and yes, totally agree.

[craigjm]

I dont have an issue with it as long as we as consumers can make informed choices. We know if we go for a curry or a kebab its likely the meat will be halal, known that for years. The arrival of halal meat fridges in supermarkets also fine because can just walk past. The issue I have with it is when normal meat in the supermarket is also halal but it doesn't say and the only way you can tell is by looking up the codes for the source of the meat. In addition when you have food chains like KFC for instance deciding they will go halal and not really shouting about it. Same goes for a lot of these meal prep companies you see advertised and its only when going deep into the FAQ's that it tells you they are halal.

We just need everything labelled correctly so people can make informed choices and that will influence what companies sell. I dont boycott indian restaurants etc I just go in knowing what I am getting

[KobayashiMaru86]

grumbledoak said:

If it is stunned first I don't much care what "prayers" are said.

This. Would've thought they'll all be stunned first for the supermarket meats. Less stressed the animal is, the better it tastes. You have these fools saying x or y plant is Halal. It just means they do supply it. Doesn't mean it all is. Same that it isn't all Organic but they do that or the regional variants like Welsh, Aberdeen Angus, etc. Lots of "Halal" would be exported so we'd not see it.

It does need to be labelled if it is. Same like we already do or organic, Welsh, etc. It's really not difficult to do either.

[Panamax]

tight fart said:

I don t understand how or why we have so many animal welfare rules around the slaughter of animals that can be ignored if you believe in a different sky fairy.

Exactly this. Same nonsense as genital mutilation of male babies.

[unzippy]

craigjm said:

In addition when you have food chains like KFC for instance deciding they will go halal and not really shouting about it.

KFC isn't halal, only 200 out of the 1000 KFC branches are halal. Even then, they stun.
https://www.kfc.co.uk/halal

[98elise]

unzippy said:

ikarl said:

Following on from the recent KFC thread where someone mentioned that most KFC is now Halal, I ve been noticing over the last few years that Halal meat is becoming more and more common in the UK.... in supermarkets, takeaways, restaurants, and even places that don t explicitly advertise it. It s at the point now where it s almost unavoidable unless you really go out of your way.

reflecting on that I've realised I don t actually have a firm position on it. Most of what I ve read online suggests it may be more stressful on the animal because of the slaughter method, so I probably lean towards thinking it s on the cruel side,. but I m not exactly an expert, and there s a lot of conflicting information out there depending on the source.

I m genuinely interested in what people on here think. I'm not trying to start an argument, or making a moral point, I'm just curious what everyone s views or experiences are nowadays, especially as it hasn t come up in a dedicated thread for a long time and the food landscape has changed a fair bit since then

Just to add, in the UK around 88% of halal slaughtered animals are stunned first. (Sauce - RSPCA)
There is no stunning going on for kosher slaughter - something the anti muslim brigade ignore..

Who are the "anti Muslim brigade" who give Kosher a pass but not Halal? I can't say I've ever seen an example of someone doing that.

Personally I only care about what happens to the animal. There isn't a better brand of religious nonsense that makes animal suffering ok.

[Bill]

unzippy said:

Just to add, in the UK around 88% of halal slaughtered animals are stunned first. (Sauce - RSPCA)
There is no stunning going on for kosher slaughter - something the anti muslim brigade ignore..

This. The vast majority of halal meat is killed the same way with a prayers playing in the background. AIUI "no stun" halal or kosher is significantly more expensive.

[unzippy]

98elise said:

Personally I only care about what happens to the animal. There isn't a better brand of religious nonsense that makes animal suffering ok.

By your interpretation, stunned halal is better religious nonsense than non stunned kosher nonsense?

[the-norseman]

I'm not really bothered but I have had an "anti halal" group coming up on Facebook recently and some of the posts on there are comedy gold. One of the posts was somebody throthing that they (Tesco) had dared to put some Halal meat near the chickens on an isle. Followed by people asking for Tesco to be boycotted etc.

[unzippy]

98elise said:

Who are the "anti Muslim brigade" who give Kosher a pass but not Halal? I can't say I've ever seen an example of someone doing that.

the-norseman said:

I'm not really bothered but I have had an "anti halal" group coming up on Facebook recently and some of the posts on there are comedy gold. One of the posts was somebody throthing that they (Tesco) had dared to put some Halal meat near the chickens on an isle. Followed by people asking for Tesco to be boycotted etc.

HTH.