19 December 2014

Halal and kosher food labelling: shoppers will be told how their meat has been killed

.... There has been growing concern that consumers are unwittingly buying meat that was the result of religious ritual slaughter after it emerged that diners had been unknowingly served halal chicken in Pizza Express and other restaurants.

Early next year, the European Commission is due to report on whether meat sold in the European Union should bear labels detailing how the animal was slaughtered. Mr Eustice appeared to rule out UK products being labelled “halal” or “kosher”, but said meats could in future be sold as “stunned” or “unstunned” – effectively alerting shoppers as to whether their meat was killed according to religious guidelines.

[TOP RATED COMMENT] So it can be Labelled Free range or organic, but not Kosher or Halal? If I didn't know better, I would think our politicians don't have the courage to offend minorities.

[SECOND] .... it's easy to understand where these ideas came from and why they were a good idea at the time. However here in Europe, we are relatively modern and relatively civilised. We no longer burn witches. We no longer practice religious torture to release the devil from deviants. We've also managed to develop modern methods to slaughter animals, where pain and suffering is minimised. We also have refrigeration. There is no place for religious claptrap trumping the rights of animals to end their lives as painlessly as possible. In short, NO!

[THIRD] Why does the British Government want to cover up whether an animal has had a prayer said over it by a 'minority' religion, whether marked 'stunned' or 'unstunned'?

I do not want to eat meat that has been 'blessed' by a religion I don't subscribe to, yet successive governments and all of this Parliament think this is acceptable. Why?

[FOURTH] Buy your meat from a traditional British butcher's shop that puts the beef and pork side-by-side in the display.

[FIFTH] Halal/Kosher unstunned slaughter should be made illegal. Unspeakable animal cruelty has no place in these islands. It's just another example of where our culture has been permitted by the gutless establishment to be overturned by immigrants. Enough. [The Telegraph] Read more