In contrast, regular meat may be produced by non-Muslims and does not necessarily follow any specific guidelines for slaughter or preparation. The animal may be stunned before slaughter to reduce pain and stress, and may be slaughtered using a variety of methods, including electrocution, gas, or captive bolt guns.
Mechanical stunning and Halal requirements. An animal needs to be alive at the time of Halal slaughter. Captive bolt (penetrative) stunning is unacceptable from a Halal perspective as an animal will not recover fully if slaughtering is not doneafter such stunning.
- Halal slaughter involves one pass of the blade across the throat of the animal, severing the carotid arteries, jugular vein and trachea. Research (Schultz, Hanover University, Germany) indicates this process involves very little pain. Animals lose consciousness very quickly, yet the heart helps rid the body of blood.
Halal animals must be slaughtered by a Muslim, who says a blessing, and by hand, not by machine (which is the way many chickens in the U.S. are killed. Once killed, the animal's blood must drain completely, since Muslims who eat Halal do not consume the fresh blood of animals.
For halal slaughter in Australia, all export and most domestic slaughtering establishments comply with standard slaughter practice where animals are stunned prior to slaughter using reversible stunning methods. For kosher slaughter there is no requirement for animals to be stunned prior to slaughter.
When you buy Australian beef and lamb, you can be confident you are getting clean, safe and 100% guaranteed Halal meat.
Over five million pigs are slaughtered in Australia each year for the pork industry, with around 85% killed using CO₂ gas stunning.
Halal slaughter is sometimes sensationalized in the media and is viewed as a controversial subject. However, if done properly, researchers have found that Halal slaughter is both safe and humane.
Halal food is that which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran. The Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, dhabiha, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass.
Halal meat is free from antibiotics, growth hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives. All these things can adversely affect a human body and can make them ill. Animals killed using non-halal methods might contain e-coli poisoning, bacteria and other harmful and filthy substances.
Minimally painful and complete bleeding is required during halal slaughter, which is difficult to perform in large animals [69]. Previous researchers have indicated an association between the location of the cut and the onset of unconsciousness during slaughter without stunning, such as in halal slaughter.
Chickens slaughtered for Halal meat are not being stunned effectively. Instead of being rendered instantly unconscious when stunned, they will be receiving a painful electric shock that immobilises them before being slaughtered whilst fully conscious.
Slaughter by a woman is valid and halal to be eaten. Yes, some scholars said that the slaughter made by a man is prioritized over a woman. This is when one considers the angle of his strength and ability to slaughter an animal.
What does the Qur'an say about food and drink? Allah has forbidden Muslims to eat animals that did not die as the result of man, contain blood, are pigs, or have been sacrificed to another god (Qur'an 2: 173).
Halal meat does not taste any different from non-halal meat, as the taste is determined by the breed of the animal, its diet, and how it is cooked. Another myth about halal meat is that it is tougher and drier than non-halal meat. This is also untrue.
While pork is the only meat that categorically may not be consumed by Muslims (the Quran forbids it, Surah 2:173 and 16:115) other foods not in a state of purity are also considered haram. The criteria for non-pork items include their source, the cause of the animal's death and how it was processed.
The slaughter process has two stages: Stunning, when performed correctly, causes an animal to lose consciousness, so the animal can't feel pain. The law states that, with few exceptions, all animals must be stunned before 'sticking' (neck cutting) is carried out.
For starters, stunning itself is painful as most slaughterhouses make animals unconscious by exposing them to electric shock or firing a bolt against the animal's head. Captive bolts go wrong many times and animals bleed to death.
Kosher slaughter, or shechita as it is called in biblical Hebrew, is so humane that when performed as intended by Jewish law, the animals don't even feel the cut before dying.
All Shechita (Jewish) and some Halal (Muslim) slaughter involves cutting the animal's throat without stunning them first. Around 87% of animals slaughtered in the UK for Halal are stunned first.
Religious slaughter
Around 95% of animals slaughtered in the UK for Halal are stunned first. All animals slaughtered under the Shechita (for Kosher) are non-stunned.
Cattle. Calves, cows, and bulls, whether raised for veal, dairy, or beef, are stunned and then hoisted mid-air. Suspended upside down by their legs, their major arteries and veins are severed by knife.
Australian laws require animals to be 'stunned' unconscious prior to having their throats cut. For cattle, this is normally done using a device called a 'captive bolt gun' which delivers a forceful strike to the forehead to induce unconsciousness.
The process of slaughtering a pig causes profound suffering for the animal both mentally and physically.
Diseases and parasites
Feral pigs can carry many infectious diseases and internal and external parasites. Some are endemic (already present), while others are exotic to Australia. Many of the diseases can spread to domestic pigs, other livestock and humans.