To think the new halal and kosher labelling bill is a great idea?

[thisismetryingijustwantedyoutoknow]

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-02-24/debates/8FDB8A16-AE50-4246-ADC9-70191907499B/FoodLabelling(HalalAndKosherMeat)

personally I’m not bothered that meat is killed in certain ways, I think if you eat meat you need to make peace with the entire process being pretty horrible for the animals.

But if you’re going to have issues with halal slaughter, you also need to have an issue with kosher slaughter. It’s the exact same process, just with different prayers said. The slaughter process is the same in both methods - the animal has its throat slit and they are left to have the blood drain out.

Completely disagree. Saying ‘either way the animal has a horrible death’ and ‘if it’s dead, it’s dead’ are both incorrect.

The humane slaughter association is a charity that have done endless research on this. The best methods to kill sheep and cattle is with a captive bolt pistol. This is like a gun, but without a bullet, just a metal bolt that is fired into the brain. It’s called ‘stunning’ but in reality it kills them outright. They are then shackled, hung up, and bled out. In decent slaughterhouses the animals will not be stunned in front of other live animals, and will feel no pain.

Something like 85% of halal meat is stunned, but it is not permissible to stun with the intent of killing (which is best practice for welfare), so they are stunned electrically, which if left long enough, they can recover from and then be fully conscious when their throat is cut. The remaining 15% are not stunned at all. No kosher slaughter is allowed to be stunned before slaughter. Similar situation for poultry, but obviously species appropriate methods.

So yes, there’s a MASSIVE difference in how the animal experiences the death based on the slaughter method. It isn’t people being racist, it is a genuine concern for animal welfare.

I have gone out of my way for the past six years to source high welfare meat. High welfare on the farm and high welfare at the slaughterhouse, and it massively pisses me off that restaurants, schools, all bulk purchase halal because it’s easier, than separating non halal meat from halal meat. That’s a huge number of animals having a suboptimal death just because it’s easier for caters to deal with. It’s disgusting, and a change in labelling is long overdue.

There is no point to side step.

I would not want to be killed irrespective and if animals could speak they would say likewise. The only opinions on halal/kosher vs. regular slaughter that matters to me are those of vegetarians.

Killing an animal just to get yourself a juicy burger is barbaric full stop. Like serial killers debating which is worse despite both committing wholesale murder.

That's my answer to the question. Asking me which way I want to be killed does nothing much for me when either way I will be killed.

I would rather life - thanks.

The question wasn't 'would you rather live or die'?

It was 'If you were being killed would you rather be stunned or left to bleed out'?

Agreed.

And that's my answer - 'neither'.

Don't worry, I've just realised who you are and had I noticed sooner, I wouldn't have engaged with you.

Your posting style is very much 'contrary for the sake of it', with very little point.

So forget I asked.

Quite. Death is probably the kindest part. We treat animals in the food chain abysmally.

I've never seen those, don't use Facebook

I worked in several slaughterhouses while training. I’m more concerned about how animals are transported prior to slaughter than how they are killed. I think that’s the biggest animal welfare concern. The fact that there are fewer and fewer abbatoirs means animals can be transported miles and miles to be killed. Thankfully it’s now illegal for live animals to be transported overseas to be killed. This law only came into force a couple of years ago.

OP, the majority of halal slaughtered cattle and other animals are stunned before being killed whereas kosher slaughtered animals are never stunned. It isn’t the exact same process at all. The stunning is an important step in ensuring the animals die humanely.

One important thing to remember is that 99.9% of slaughtermen just want to get on with their job and process the animal as quickly and safely as possible. That means it’s very much in their interests to ensure the animals are calm prior to being killed and that they are killed as quickly and efficiently as possible. If animals are suffering and take a long time to die then it affects the meat. Meat is extremely valuable and businesses aren’t going to risk producing low quality meat.

I once saw a big cull cow that wasn’t killed instantly by being electrically stunned and came too as it was being hoisted. It was really distressed and thrashing around. IPicture how dangerous that is. The slaughtermen treated it very seriously.

All areas in abbatoirs (in England, Scotland and Wales ) where there are live animals and where animals are killed have to have (good quality) cctv that must be available for the independent veterinary offficer (employed by the food standards agency) to see. I know there will always be some rogue abbatoirs but most are well regulated.

I'm not an expert but stunning doesn't kill an animal does it? Most of the time in Halal slaughter the animal is stunned AND left to bleed out. In Kosher slaughter they are never ever stunned before being left to bleed out. So the answer to your question is surely stunned because you would be up and running again after a short down time?

Thank you @YorkStories for your valuable insight. I agree you can tell when you’re dealing with meat from a stressed animal. It is very poor quality. Co-op chicken is a case in point. It’s horrible and I won’t buy any of their meat anymore.
I only buy beef from my milkman now. He raises them on his farm, just a small herd, and they travel about 3 miles to the slaughterhouse.

This.

I am vegetarian and think it is cruel to eat meat full stop. However, if an animal is to be slaughtered, it should be pre stunned properly. There should definitely be proper labelling and, in fact, I would like to see non-stun slaughter banned completely in the UK. If this doesn't meet some people's requirements, then they can go veggie.

Reading a thread like this is shocking to me. How can anyone be ok with killing innocent animals to eat full stop? Compromising their welfare even further by carrying out religious practices is cruel beyond belief.

Humans disgust me.

That’s great that there is a slaughterhouse so close. Id buy my meat there too.

It’s unusual these days now there are only a couple of hundred abbatoirs in the whole of the uk. When I first started working there were plenty of small local abbatoirs about and plenty of butchers who killed their own animals. I saw plenty of questionable hygiene and animal welfare practices back then.

How is how humans kill and eat their meat any different from how any carnivores eat their meat? Have you watched a heron swallowing fish live? A lion eating a wildebeest? All of those are horrific, none of them are stunned prior to killing. Humans are just animals.

These animals have had natural lives and it is a part of nature. Industrial farming and killing does not seem comparable

I find most Jews get their meat from a Kosher deli anyway, I’d imagine Muslims do the same with halal? It should obviously be labelled in a supermarket, otherwise I’m not sure how Jews and Muslims would be able to differentiate.

I’m veggie so meat is meat to me, it’s all pretty shitty.

We should care about both.

I wrote to Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s (Lidl and Aldi as well but they didn’t reply) and all 3 replied saying that the slaughter law in this country is that animals are stunned but prayers are said before slaughter for Halal. If you go to a specialty Halal butcher I don’t suppose this is the case

In a society where the majority of people eat meat both are important.
Personally, I am vegetarian but if animals are going to be killed then the most humane method is better.
I find it disgusting that human believes around religion (fantasy) are put before animal welfare (fact).

The more information people have about the food they eat is great. They can make the choices best suited to them.

This is a much needed update to our current labelling laws.

Doesn’t have to be an either/or. We should care for welfare during life as well as a decent death.

This has no chance of becoming law. It’s a 10 minute rule bill. Essentially a way to make a point:

www.parallelparliament.co.uk/glossary/ten-minute-rule-bill#:~:text=A%20Ten%20Minute%20Rule%20Bill%20is%20a,awareness%20and%20show%20support%20for%20an%20issue

What a shame. It would be nice for everything to be treated equally for a change.