Halal Meat- Is it really "Halal"?

Halal Meat in the UK

Last week I was discussing the the whole issue of halal meat with a few friends. We came to the conclusion that "real" halal meat is increasingly hard to come by, having said that we did recognise that we all should have husn al-zann with the meat that we are supplied with, since if a Muslim tells you something is halal you accept it unless you know for a fact that it isn't. There were many factors that we discussed that lead us to this conclusion. Firstly our insatiatiable demamd for meat; there is no way that this demand can be met without cutting a few corners at the slaughterhouse. I know that chicken slaughter is very hi-speed and there is a very high throughput of live chickens and those conducting the slaughter just don't have the time to say "bismillah Allahu akbar" on every chicken when the automatic knives make the cut. With regards to slaughter of larger animals, there is a widespread use of stunning and electric shock as is well discussed and documented and so I am not going to go into the ins and outs of that.

The other factor that we discussed is how many people actually know how to do "dhabiha", Any Tom, Dick or Harry can get a Slaughterman's license and anyone can say "Bismillah Allahu Akbar" and run a knife across the throat of an animal, but how many know exactly where to make the cut or the other ahkam that need to be fulfilled? I think as the years go by there will be less and less people with this skill and certainly this is a concern. There is absolutely no training available for the people doing "dhabiha" and even if there were it would have to be on live animals and this is not possible; anyone for Deen Intensive on the Fiqh of Islamic Slaughter?

My father runs a halal meat and grocery shop and has done so for nearly 40 years. When I was younger, our business was one the very few businesses of this kind that used to supply meat and chickens slaughtered by ourselves. From an early age I used to accompany my father to the slaughterhouse and observe the slaughter of sheep and lambs. From what I remember, my father observed all the ahkam of slaughter and never cut corners. This was reflected in the quality of the meat that we used to supply to our customers and people used to come from far and wide to buy meat from our shop and the reputation grew, even our non-Muslim customers preferred the meat that we supplied to the local butcher even though it was cheaper. Unfortunately for the last 7 or 8 years we have been supplying meat from a wholesaler of halal meat as all the local slaughterhouses shutdown one by one due to Government regulations and EU regulations it became uneconomical for small slaughterhouses to operate. For a time we did use a local farmer who was a friend of the family to supply us with sheep and the use of his farm slaughterhouse but due to the BSE and other health scares it became too risky for him.

My father once told me that there was a man who used to supply "halal" meat quite cheaply in Luton and this man used to use the same slaughterhouse that my father used to use. This man used to slaughter 6 or 7 animals for his own use and then let non-Muslim slaughtermen to finish off the rest of his order! My father was outraged and offered to slaughter his animals for free but he never took up the offer. This was going back 15 or 20 years, I don't think this guy is supplying "halal" meat anymore. There are some unscrupulous halal meat suppliers who don't realise that this is an amanah - a sacred trust - that has to be safeguarded.

I think if Muslims reverted back to the Sunnah practice of eating very little meat this would certainly go some way in helping as well as improving the health of the community by lessening the illnesses relating to eating too much red meat. I also think that consumer pressure should be applied in that we should demand the highest standards even if that means paying more for it. There is too much apathy on our part, whilst husn al-zann is praiseworthy it shouldn't make us complacent in demanding the halal and tayyib.

wa'as-salam

Mas'ud
www.masud.co.uk

'Husn al-zann' maybe in an ideal islamic shariah governed place, but not presently.'95% of the Halal meat consumed in the U.K. is not Halal! As suggested recently by one of the top authorities in this area, Mr Yunes Teinaz (Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and Health and Management Adviser to the Director General of the Central Mosque), at a meeting at Central Mosque, Regents Park.

Scandalous, shocking, outrageous and absolutely unbelievable, but TRUE!

The following is a list of all the 'Halal' that is available from your friendly neighbourhood butcher:-

1. CHICKENS FATTENED UP BY INJECTED PORK PROTEINS.
2. MAGGOT INFESTED ROTTING CARCASSES, EVEN REJECTED BY THE PET FOOD TRADE.
3. LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTERED BY BISMILLAH INSCRIBED MECHANICAL BLADES.
4. STUNNED MEAT AND POULTRY.

The first three on the list above, represent a small proportion of the meat available and it is to some extent being addressed and resolved, but the forth listed, STUNNED meat and poultry maybe legally enforced upon us, if a government advisory body, the FAWC get their way (much to the delight of the many unscrupulous butchers) and more importantly if we continue to be complacent and careless about Halal and Haram.

The Islamic Cultural Centre, Regents Park are advising Muslim traders and consumers that 'The Islamic Shariah requires that animals are slaughtered without any form of prior stunning and that the animal must be fully conscious at the time of slaughtering'. They will also recommend consumers to purchase meat from reputable butchers and be allowed to trace meat to a reputable abattoir.

WE NEED A UNITED FRONT AGAINST STUNNING OR ELSE WE WILL LOSE NOT ONLY THE HALAL, TAYYAB AND OUR IBAADAT, BUT OUR VOICE AND OUR RIGHTS.'
More info is available on the following sites:-
halalmc.org
unstunnedhalal.com
myhalalshop.com

i think the safest way is to become a veggy, coz then u dont have anything to worry about

ive just spent the weekend in dewsbury and over their alot of the shops had this sign which said 100% halal meet not stunned in huge posters. apparently some of the suppliers were seeling haram meet to shops

were did u go in dewsbury?
and which shops were buying haraam meat

and btw waquas, u came from Cardiff to Dewsbury, why o why

Its becoming a big problem now in the U.K as more and more people are becoming aware.

thing is, there is no way that we can know for 100% sure, and that is wot bugs me

All we can do is ask Allah to guide us in the best way possible.

i came to dewbury for the west midland wales tabligh jor. im not sure which shops were selling haram meet but local brother were tellng me few shops did without knowing becuase there supplier was obvisouly providing haram meet.

i was in central markaz its crazy man dewsbury just all apnas in that area. it was a good 3 days

Halal meat is big business worth billions all over the world.

The only to be sure is to do zabiha in your garden

Only if...........

I hear in Bradford thats what they do...

You can't do it London unfortunately...

Only in southall

In my opinion, the 'Halal Meat Industry' in the Uk is primarily an industry that exploits Muslims in the quest to maximise income as a priority.

Once upon a time if a Muslim meat supplier said its Halal, you would not doubt its authenticity - and to doubt another Muslim on this issue would make you sinful!!!

BUT in 2006 - the world is a different place. The demand for Halal meat is immense. And unscrupolous suppliers are cashing in on our demands / our fears / our desire to eat halal.

Firstly - just becaiuse it says HALAL on the packaging doesnt make it fit for human consumption. In Birmingham (UK) 3 years ago, 2 Pakistani brothers were found guilt of supplying meat that was maggot infested, unsafe for animals - yet being supplied to teh public and catering industry.

Secondly, so called 'Halal' chicken exports from Holland (usually chicken fillet breast meat) that is cheap and used in the catering industry was found to contain non-halal beef protein and pork proteins to 'fatten up the meat' (a mechanical process that involved bulking it up by 50%).

Thirdly - Eastern Europe. If you rely on frozen halal meat products (samosoas/burgers/nuggets) that you can buy in any asian grocery store??? Think twice because although its technically halal - its barely fit for consumption by sane humans - look at the packaging & look at the ingredients - its likely to contain 'mechanically retrieved meat' or 'deboned chicken' - basically its the stuff that is thrown away by the butchers as waste - buy using high pressure jets, it is BLASTED OF THE BONE!!!

Surely as Muslim consumers we should have evolved from just looking for a spurious halal logo? Dont we deserve to get the meat we pay over the odds for?

I ask a lot of questions when I buy meat. If I am not satidfied with the response, I buy elsewhere. Fortunately, a local supplier now guarantees all their meat to be 100% UNSTUNNED. He could still be lying, but they have a website; make their premises available for any inspection; have documentation available on a website (yes they have a website!!!) to make it as transparent as possible.

Sure there are people that say we shouldnt go overboard - but why not? If I have the capability to look into things (for myself-then why not)

A welcome move has been those suppliers that dont just rely on branding meat as HALAL - they stress that its UNSTUNNED.

The Muslim Directory 2006 (Free publication available to all) is a good source of information.

Worth a read:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programm...ama/3047159.stm

The chicken you are eating could have been injected with beef or pork protein.

That is the claim that will be made by BBC One's Panorama programme on Thursday after a six month investigation into the chicken processing industry in Holland.

Tests carried out for the programme reveal that beef or pork DNA has been found in chicken, including products which are being sold as Halal meat.

It will also reveal that meat processors have been deliberately pumping chicken full of water - and even beef protein - in an effort to make them look bigger, with some Dutch sourced chicken fillets containing as much as 50% added water.

Additives

The practice of injecting chicken with water and proteins is not illegal, as long as it is accurately labelled.

It is also not illegal to inject beef and pork proteins into chicken, as long as they are labelled as "hydrolised proteins".

These proteins are added to the chicken to allow the meat to retain more water.

All of the companies featured in the film deny using beef or pork protein in this process, with some denying they use additives, and the rest insisting they use hydrolised protein made from chickens.

However, one German protein company has been caught on film boasting about how it has developed a method of breaking down the DNA in the proteins so that no traces of beef or pork can be found.

Responsibility


Prowico's Theo Hietbrink spoke to Panorama
Panorama captured a director of the company Prowico, saying that some of his proteins are guaranteed to be "PCR negative".

PCR is the test that authorities use to find DNA from different species of animals.

Theo Hietbrink, of Prowico, told the programme that at least 12 companies were using this new brand of untraceable hydrolised proteins.

However, a spokesman for the company said it has never sold on additives without declaring their contents, adding that declaring the contents on the actual chicken is the responsibility of the processors.

It added that it made PCR-negative proteins so they could be very pure, not so that it can beat any tests.

Action

Earlier in the year, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) announced that many frozen chicken breasts imported to the UK contained added protein designed to retain water and make the meat appear more substantial.

David Walker, a spokesperson for the TSI, said that something needs to be done to stop the practice of adulterating chicken.

He said: "It is clear that some brands of imported frozen chicken meat continue to be adulterated.

"The time for action is long overdue. Trading standards officers will continue to take action against importers, who have a moral and legal obligation to check the quality of the food they sell."

post of the week

Lets not also forget the BOGUS 'Zam Zam' water (Holy water from Saudi) which is being distributed in the UK that was tested and found to contain ARSENIC....Mmmm...poison-tastic!

May Allah protect us all from Haraam.

Allah's done his bit - time for his creatures to start protecting the rest of us....

ameen

Any idea where you get your meat from Wax?

umm i think city rd continentals or something arab guys

they ok?

As far as meat suppliers in the city go, they are amongst the best - they are actually Kurds (Iraqi). Could they guarantee that there meat is 100% UNSTUNNED? Probably not - but they dont use any imported meat from Holland etc.

Ive been buying my meat from there for 3-4 years - but am now starting to buy from PAK BUTCHERS in Grangetown as the guarantee UNSTUNNED meat

http://www.pakbutchers.co.uk/halalbutchers.htm

thas ok then

Good stuff.

No Not really . I can't Imagin the world with no flesh to eat. So for me No way I will become a Veggy. Works for you enjoy it not me bro.

ull ive longer

This has really made me think, think of the chances now that people have served us haraam meat when we intented to buy Halal. It makes my blood boil.

At least i know my meat is safe, I buy from a meat shop which is run by a hafiz.

i heard alot of good stuff about HMC monitored meat & chicken heard they only give there certificate to those who sell 100% halal.

A new 'halal' meat shop opened on Mon locally.

However - yesterday morning, they had a delivery from a supplier that has only ever supplied 'western' butcher shops.

It MAY be halal, but surely I am entitled to think the worst? After all, if I walk into a pub and am seen by the 'asian gossip' of the town (who is outside) - the whole community will think I drink (even though I only went into by some cigarretes!)

Why would you buy cigs from a pub anyway?

or off licence for example. My dad used to buy his fags from the off-licence. People do.

Off-licence I can understand, a pub I cannot