Hazelnut

We're having a 'stir hatred for Muslim and Jewish people' bunfight in the UK right now about a lot of meat being 'Halal' and not labelled as such. All this means is that it's been killed by a method that doesn't involve pre-stunning so, therefore, it meets the requirements of people following a Halal dietary code.

Our supermarkets are saying ALL meat from new Zealand is 'Halal' as opposed to killed after animal has been stunned. Does NZ not have a pre-stunning regulation?

I'm not a fan of slaughter houses full stop and would rather see animals killed quickly and humanely where they were reared rather than transported but I just wondered about the regulations you had over there.

Pothy

Hi Hazelnut

Have a look at the NZ Beef & Lamb website www.beeflambnz.co.nz and you will have your answer. NZ and Australia are the biggest exporters of beef and lamb to the Middle East in the world. We cannot tell, at all, from the labelling if our meat is halal as they say it is too expensive to do. Apparently there is a stun but it is different from the normal stun (whatever that might mean!) but conforms in all other ways. I am a vegetarian but if I did eat meat I wouldn't buy from the supermarket but a good local butcher who could confirm that the meat was non-halal. In defence of NZ they do not do non-stun methods at all and kosher meat is banned. I don't like the thought of food stuffs being blessed up to Allah but them I am of a different religion!

Hazelnut

Thanks for the link. Makes the spin the UK media are putting on it even worse.

cappuccino

This is incorrect. Kosher meat is not banned - they tried to ban it a couple of years ago but this was unsuccessful.

Assanah

How can slaughter be humanely? If you are worried about the well-being of animals best thing is to stop eating meat and animal products.

BEVS

Show me this.

Actually, it's not the media is it, it is the people that read and believe without thinking.

cappuccino

Probably quoted in The Daily Mail ;-)

BEVS

Then maybe kosher / halal is the way to go.

No long queues to stun or not quite stun as the case may be.

Charismatic

Good point, well made.

The whole thing is pretty horrific, one way or another your killing a creature with a central nervous system and possible some degree of situational awareness. That said I'm not a vegitarian and I buy meat products without a second thought as to the animal suffering or environmental consequences.

One day we may look back at this as as difficult to explain exactly why we persisted even when we knew it was unethical.

Bo-Jangles

Funnily enough you can mock the British press for hysteria and being misinformed, yet the very same 'outraged of Pukekohe type 'debate' was happening up and down the radio waves of NZ this arvo. How dare those dreadful folks at McDs not tell us etc.

I remember it being a big story, similar shock and horror a couple of years back also.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay...ectid=11004217

Persephone

'Normal' slaughter involves stunning [captive bolt/electrocution/percussion] to render the animal unconscious and then immediately cutting the carotid arteries so they die from bleeding out.
If Halal slaughter in NZ involves stunning then I have no problem with that. And religious words being said at the time mean nothing to me- I am not religious at all and as long as it doesn't interfere or slow down the killing time then the method is no different to the above 'normal' slaughter.
The difference in stun method may relate to the need for the animal to be alive when killed-the stun should be reversible. Correct me if I'm wrong!

I do however think that all animals should be stunned prior to being killed. If we are going to kill animals for meat then the process should be as quick and stress free as possible.
Also the transport time between farm and slaughterhouse be as minimal as possible, ideally all animals would be slaughtered where they are raised but this would prove difficult to manage. Regulations do exist to cover all aspects of the process.
Whether we should be eating meat or not is a different issue.

It's a long time since my public health lectures but I seem to remember that all religious slaughter must be done at a licensed abattoir in the UK. I don't think it would make much difference in terms of animal welfare/the before death conditions. There would always be some animals in lairage waiting especially if large numbers are being slaughtered.

Pothy

Halal is not just about the way the animal is slaughtered. Every company who supplies halal products has to pay a fee to the Islamic Federation and some of this money goes towards funding terrorism. For that reason alone surely we should be more aware of what products we buy and of course it is not just meat! Companies such as Sanitarium, Mars, Cadbury's and Kellogg's are halal certified companies (along with a whole heap more). We simply cannot get away from halal foods and it is a disgrace that we are unknowingly supporting Islam and terrorism. If you don't believe me look up Halal Food Certification - that is of course if you are interested!

Pothy

Hi Cappuccino - thought you might be interested in this link, http://ausfoodnews.com.au/2010/06/03...-disgrace.html according to this article NZ outlawed shechita in 2010 - good on them is all I can say!

BEVS

That was sorta my thinking in a way. As little time as possible before slaughter.

Ah! Thanks for that Perse.

cappuccino

Just for clarification- kosher (shechita) slaughtering of poultry is allowed in NZ - the government ban was overturned.