To absolutely loathe the increase in smear campaigns against businesses because of the halal meat debate?

[nc0007]

Well it’s not really a debate, is it? You either don’t care, or you’re absolutely seething because your meat may or may not be halal. But irrespectively of what you think about this, AIBU to think that people ‘outing’ businesses on social media about what meat they use and encouraging hundreds of people to smear them not just in posts but reviews to tank their ratings is just crazy?

Hundreds of people commenting ‘I’ve just left them a bad review on google’ because a (British owned baked potato) business extended their trading hours to their Muslim customers? People who have never bought anything from them in their life, probably geographically will never go there. Actively trying to sabotage a business because you think you’re what - some sort of activist?

And don’t get me started on the posts where people reach out to these poor customer service reps in supermarkets to ask them if the meat they sell is halal because of this mad narrative that ‘80% of supermarket meat is halal’ - where has this nonsense come from?!?! 😂 People screenshotting and commenting about how ‘Clare from Lidl’ is avoiding the question when she probably doesn’t have a scooby and the answer probably isn’t a straight yes or no either!

Madness. Utter madness. People treating this like it’s a full time job.

Yes, I agree with this. The RSPCA has said that non-stunning causes unnecessary distress and suffering. The Farm Animal Welfare Council and Compassion In World Farming also oppose non-stunned slaughter.

Exemptions to this on religious grounds are unacceptable.

There are some Muslims who refuse to eat machine slaughtered and go check if the meat was hand slaughtered

Funnily enough, Muslims are not a single monolith, and they will have different views on this. Islam, like every other religion, is open to interpretation, and there are other well established organisations which do consider stunned meat to be halal.

What we do know is that most meat marketed in the UK as halal is stunned. According to the RSPCA, this accounts for 88% of halal meat sold. Of course, there might well be some Muslims who don't actually regard such meat as being properly halal, and they will need to do their own due diligence as to which suppliers are able to supply non-stunned meat, but that doesn't change the fact that most meat in the UK which is sold as halal will in fact have been stunned before slaughter.

You're equally opposed to humane slaughter as inhumane slaughter?

I'm also opposed to people making spurious claims about hateful narratives and slagging off those who do object to inhumane slaughter. Seems their behaviour makes it very clear they don't care about animal welfare at all.

You think all non-halal slaughter is humane?

The UK has the highest animal welfare’s laws in the world so you are incorrect.
Full time veterinary oversight is a lawful requirement in meat processing.
what would be more concerning if we start to import more meat products from abroad with far lower standards of welfare due to the UK not supporting British farmers.
Halal meat production has been more regulated in recent years so that is progress. If you ban these methods they will just go underground with far less scrutiny.

https://viva.org.uk/health/health-news/the-real-offence-isnt-vegan-bacon-its-killing-animals-for-food/

‘Stunning’ is not as black and white as you are assuming or portraying on this thread.

I explained on this thread earlier that there is ‘recoverable stun’. It gives a smaller stun which allows animal to come round enough to hear the prayer.

So they have been ‘stunned’ yet conscious enough to hear the prayer … and therefore be awake enough to feel terrible pain and suffering as for example, the cows are are tied upside down by their hooves, having their hips dislocated with the weight, and taking 12 minutes to bleed out with their head in a drain.

Anyone who thinks this is acceptable is sick.

So the uk doesn’t have battery chickens then ? I find that very hard to believe .

kosher meat isnt stunned at all. They then take the parts that are not considered kosher and sell it as "meat" on the open market.

Pigs are slaughtered here painfully. CO2 hypoxia, they are in a lot of pain. I doubt any slaughter is truely humane. A true "they immediately lose consciousness and can't feel any pain"

Having read up on this further, my understanding is that it isn't about the animal being conscious to hear the prayer. It's fine for them to be unconscious, it is simply that the stunning should not kill them first. Of course, there will be different interpretations by different scholars, but this is the position of the Halal Food Authority, which is the biggest certifier of halal meat in the UK.

As for thinking it's acceptable... I'm not really arguing that. I don't personally think it's acceptable for people to kill animals for meat full stop. I just don't buy into the idea that halal and kosher meat are unusually cruel while all other meat is somehow hunky dory. As a pp has pointed out, if you eat mass produced meat then you may well end up eating meat from unstunned animals anyway, because the unwanted parts from kosher meat production go back into general circulation anyway.

Many concerning issues arise when considering the Islamic concept of halal. Halal is an Arabic term meaning permissible. Therefore, halal refers to practices that Muslims are allowed to partake in, according to Islamic theology and law.

In short, halal slaughter traditionally requires an animal to be killed through a specific method (the slitting of the animal’s throat while Islamic prayers are recited) that typically DOES NOT involve the pre-stunning of the animal:

"The name of Allah must be mentioned during the slaughter, and the animal must be bled completely. After the animal is slaughtered, the meat is inspected to ensure that it is free of defects. If it is found to be clean and wholesome, it is then considered halal."

The Islamic prayers must be imbibed into the meat to make it suitable offering for Allah, therefore all halal meat would contain practices and prayers that would be offensive or unacceptable for people of other faiths; therefore, supermarkets cannot possibly focus on all meat being halal. Critics argue that slaughter without stunning is inhumane, raising concerns among animal welfare advocates. Furthermore, supporting halal butcheries and Islamic-owned businesses inevitably leads to the further spread of certain troublesome Islamic practices such as those mentioned above.

Many animals killed using ritual slaughter practices are fully conscious when their throats are cut. Any fully conscious animal is absolutely and understandably terrified when a chain is shackled to their leg and they’re hoisted into the air upside down. Birds thrash wildly in panic and excruciating pain, since their legs can break or be pulled out of their sockets under their own bodyweight. Research shows that when cattle and sheep are killed without stunning, it can take several unimaginably agonising minutes for them to lose consciousness after their throats are slit. The reason they can't be stunned in Islamic halal practices is the Islamic legal requirement that argue that stunned animals do not bleed out in exactly the same way as non-stunned animals.

See graphic video documenting halal slaughterhouse practices.

PETAUK considers halal just animal cruelty by another name:

https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/ritual-slaughter/

For all of you who trivialise and find nothing wrong with halal, including the OP, let me know how you justify trivialising this criminality.

A secret video camera planted by an animal rights' activist reveals the true horrors of what happened inside that abattoir in a ­Warwickshire village. A report by university academics who viewed the film last year said 'intense pain and distress' was inflicted on hundreds of lambs as they were hurled into doors, walls, and floors, before being killed in a terrible way.

Activist Joey Carbstrong, who made the undercover film, has insisted it was made to highlight animal cruelty, rather than ­stigmatise Islam. He acted after complaints from villagers about the smell coming from the abattoir, and the distressing cries made by the 1,000 animals arriving by lorry at the premises every week.

Of the one billion farm animals killed in England and Wales ­during 2024, approximately one in five – or just over 200million – were killed by halal methods. This ­represents 20 per cent of the total, even though the Muslim ­population in England and Wales is nearer 7 per cent. Meaning, non-muslims are pushed to eat halal meat.

The majority of halal slaughterhouses slit the throats, while a small number do stun the animals – although critics claim the ­slaughtermen use a lower voltage than that employed in regular stunning, to ensure the animal is not dead before its throat is cut (in other words, they only pretend to stun the animals).
The critics maintain that this means the animals can regain full ­consciousness after 20 seconds, then struggle and feel pain for many minutes while they are slaughtered.

There are also claims that halal meat is being sold in super­markets without adequate ­labelling as to the method of slaughter. One social media ­commentator complained about his experience when he went to his local High Street supermarket this week to buy some chicken: 'It had a red Union Jack on it ­(meaning it was reared in ­Britain), and had a Red Tractor (animal welfare) certification on the ­package. But when I checked the code it turned out to be halal.'

Conservative MP Esther McVey explained in House of Commons in February 2026 why the meat was so prevalent: 'non-stunned' meat is cheaper and therefore, 'supermarkets and food outlets can purchase that cheaper meat without ever declaring it to the customer... Non-stunned produce is being used by 17 local councils in schools, the majority of which are not Islamic faith schools, without parents or children having the first idea about it.'

She has called for a law to label halal and kosher meat so people can decide not to eat it, adding: 'Individuals concerned about animal welfare would want to know if an animal had been stunned prior to slaughter.'

Whether a dying animal is stunned or not, an Islamic prayer is said over the dying creature by the slaughterman in line with the ­strictures of the Koran.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15593083/halal-slaughter-animals-eating-SUE-REID.html

Sadly this is nothing new,

https://meatmanagement.com/news/major-halal-slaughterhouse-under-investigation-for-animal-cruelty/38309.article

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/halal-abattoir-staff-suspended-animal-cruelty-claims

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/halal-slaughterhouse-boss-who-broke-13101053

Makes me think all meat is cruel now.

Well, I think that's the reality.

Why has nobody secretly filmed in a kosher abbatoir given that we know no animals are stunned?

If that is the case why does the Halal Monitoring Committee say on its website that only non-stunned meat counts as halal? It's the lack of clarity that increases suspicion of the whole industry.

And as this is a growing industry, with public sector bodies like schools adopting halal as standard, to be served to all their students, not just the Muslims, this is an important issue.

They should. I imagine a similar picture would emerge as the halal abbatoirs.

Because that is just one certifying body that applies a particular interpretation of Islam which isn't shared by all Muslims?

88% of halal meat in the UK is stunned.

Muslims are not a single monolith and they have different views within their own communities.

Yes, thank you for your post.

This bit stands out for me: 'non-stunned' meat is cheaper and therefore supermarkets and food outlets can purchase that cheaper meat without ever declaring it to the customer... Non-stunned produce is being used by 17 local councils in schools, the majority of which are not Islamic faith schools, without parents or children having the first idea about it.'

It's the encroachment of non-stunned halal into mainstream meat consumption which is the biggest worry. The confusion around the issue is enabling this.

And that is also wrong.

Ah well as long as we are all blissfully oblivious to it then that's ok right?
(Tongue in cheek)

Im disgusted by the smear campaign against halal meat. I’m disgusted by the Palestine war. I’m disgusted by the shocking denials of the holocaust by the far right in the USA, which I was hearing about on the radio yesterday. So many dodgy campaigns, with so many hidden motives. So much has changed in the last decade.