Halal. More Deception From The Food Industry

So it has emerged that many of our supermarkets and restaurant chains are selling halal meat to millions of us without even telling us.

It appears there’s been a switch to slaughtering animals in line with Islamic ritual to save money because the end product can be eaten by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. More than 70% of all New Zealand lamb in supermarkets is from halal abattoirs – a fact not stated on the labelling. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have all confirmed to the UK press that they sell this imported meat.

It’s not just the supermarkets. all chicken served by Pizza Express is halal something they fail to mention on their menus and other chains such as Domino's, Nando's, KFC, Ask and Slug & Lettuce all use halal meat in some dishes and locations.

Not Fair Game

My argument isn’t about halal meat as such and whether or not it is humanely or barbarically slaughtered but the fact that yet again we are being mislead by large corporations, out to make money through deception. It was only last year we had the horsemeat scandal, now it’s halal.

It seems they use Halal meat rather than normal meat because both Muslim and non-Muslim can eat it? That's not strictly true, Muslims could eat pork but choose not to, but if I don't want to eat halal I don’t get that choice anymore. It seems that the only way I can truly avoid halal is to be a vegetarian or only eat pork.

This isn’t a fair game going on here. How come it’s OK for Muslims to know where their meat comes from and how it was slaughtered but not the rest of us? In reality it’s an outrage that we are secretly being fed this meat, if this was the other way round and the Muslims were secretly eating normal meat can you imagine the outcry? And you’ve got to ask yourself, why would a Muslim buy halal food that isn't labelled as halal anyway? That doesn't make any sense to me!

You’ve also got to ask yourselves why aren't traditional British abattoirs being used anymore? Maybe because the majority have been forced out of business by these greedy corporations.

I actually find constantly being deceived and misinformed about halal by supermarkets, restaurants and pizza companies to be offensive to me! So are they saying it’s ok to offend me but not the minority who eat halal? I honestly don’t know.

So Why Not Just Label It ‘Halal’?

The reason labelling is opposed is obvious - many consumers do not want to buy the product. It's the same as with GM foods, labelling opposed and consumers not wanting the product. People need to be given the choice; big business should not be allowed to get away with selling products people don't want by withholding information about them.

Surely it defeats the object of it being Halal meat if it isn't labelled accordingly! A Muslim can only eat Halal meat so couldn't possibly purchase it unless he/she was sure that it was, no label, no surety.

The supermarkets know that once the word ‘halal’ is placed on the meat it will not sell and they will be left with an awful lot of unsold meat. If I know meat is halal I won't buy it and I don't care if the animal has been stunned, I don't want to eat halal meat and I’m sure there are many others who feel the same way. But it should be labelled so that shoppers have the choice.

I can see why people wouldn’t buy or eat meat if it’s halal. So label it and give people the choice. There again why would people go to a supermarket to buy meat anyway? Did we not learn after the horsemeat deception? Local butchers are much healthier and more trustworthy.

And we still don’t know why they sell it unidentified in the first place, is it just cheaper to slaughter the animals using the halal method?

Peace of mind

I believe that information about stunning and method (Halal/Kosher/neither) should be made clear prior to purchase. This would give peace of mind to those in the relevant religions about the food they consume, and those that disagree with certain methods likewise.

If supermarkets want to make some cash and get people through the doors they need to, stop deceiving us, give us the choice, they have a lot of buying power to dictate change here. Maybe they should create a specific “Halal” range and a “Best of British” range that’s non-halal and say so. People will have peace of mind that they know what they’re getting and the supermarket’s ethics won’t be brought into question.

Local Butchers

At the end of the day we are British people and want to eat British food slaughtered the British way, so that’s all the more reason and a very good one too, for people to make sure they use their local butchers! People want to know where their food comes from, your local butcher should be able to tell you exactly where it’s come from and how it was slaughtered.

I must say I am absolutely shocked that the New Zealand lamb sold in this country is halal; simply solution is don’t buy it, buy Welsh lamb instead, it’s a more sustainable alternative too.

So its off to the local butcher for me, no more takeaways and shopping for meat in supermarkets as I strongly object, not necessarily to the slaughter of animals in such a cruel fashion but being deceived and no knowing what they’re selling me. I know my butcher won’t do that, his reputation is too much to lose.

What To Do?

Ban halal meat? Denmark and Poland have already banned religiously slaughtered meat but in this country we’re too wet to even attempt to do this, so it looks like we’re stuck with it.

What I think people are more upset about is that it has all been kept quiet, which makes everyone believe the companies involved know the reaction they will get. People have the right to choose whether to eat meat that has been humanely killed or by the halal way. Once again the minority have been pandered to and the majority kept in the dark. Seriously, we have the right to know and make our own choices, but then a lot of these companies know that if they are upfront they will lose a hell of a lot of custom, but that is their problem, not the consumers.

At the moment, when these supermarkets label the meat ‘halal’ how can a Muslim person be sure it is and how can non-muslims be sure that meat that is unmarked is not ‘halal’? Meat needs to be properly labelled so we all have the right choice. It's clear why it isn't because these greedy supermarkets will be left with a load of unsold meat - and they can't have that can they? 

We need to start asking questions when we eat out. If valued customers ask then the businesses will have to account for their behaviour. As it is, no one says anything so they continue to get away with it and deceive us. Maybe when we all go to these restaurants we should say that we’ll only eat the meat if they can confirm its non-halal. Or maybe we shouldn’t eat or shop anywhere that sets out to deceive us in the first place.