halal meat/poultry

[womanofdulwich]

I said no to "halal turkey" and went for the vegetarian option at a recent xmas meal. I don't actually like turkey, but realise I don't really know what halal means in terms of animal welfare or pain involved in slaughter. Can anyone help?

For example I would only buy free range chicken - but does halal chicken mean its free range too? is all halal meat now stunned before slaughter?

Thanks

[DulwichFox]

Hi womanofdulwich

In short, Abraham Natural Produce would rather all animals were slaughtered without stunning .

However most abattoirs in the UK, unless purpose built for halal slaughter, use stunning on animals.

Where we are based in the UK there are no Muslim abattoirs.

We therefore have no option but to stun our produce as only animals processed through abattoirs can be sold for human consumption.

On top of this we are bound by organic standards which demand that any animal solds as "organic" must be stunned before being stuck.

The stun used is a very low voltage that knocks the animal out for around 15-20 seconds.

After 20 seconds it is potentially back to normal and during that 20 seconds it is alive and breathing.

This means that when the animal is cut it still bleeds the animal properly.

http://www.organic-halal-meat.com/article/stunning.php

[womanofdulwich]

Thanks foxy- but thats just one shop ? I wondered is all halal poultry free range?

[KidKruger]

halal does not indicate free range, it's purely the slaughter method.

free range would have to be specified in addition, it is not implied by use of word halal.

[Gidget]

I am really fussy about what chicken I will buy. Good welfare chicken and turkey supplier is at Herne Hill market on Sundays and Brockley on Saturdays. Fosse Meadows Farm - they used to be local Peckham boys but now have a farm up in Leicestershire. You can try their chicken before you buy as they cook the breasts there to taste. Also serve sandwiches. They do chicken burgers, chicken sausages, as well as whole chickens and parts including livers.