BA to serve Halal only meals !

It is my understanding that there is an intention across many mass catering suppliers to provide only halal meat. What I don't understand about this is how this fits with our slaughter laws. I thought that halal meat production (which I do not agree with) was for the consumption by devout muslims. I am not a devout muslim, so should not be allowed to eat meat which is not killed in the manner set down by law for general consumption. Surely the idea of mass halal slaughter is open to legal challenge?
 
suzysparkle said:
This makes my blood boil!!

However, it's not actually British Airways - though they are such an easy target it's been headlined in the press that it's BA. It's actually Gate Gourmet who supply the meals and the reason for considering it is purely down to cost. Airlines offer Halal meals and they have to be pre-ordered. This costs more money. Gate Gourmet are saying if they made all meals Halal it would save them quite a lot of money. It wouldn't just affect BA, it would affect many Airlines.

Now here's the thing. This would be forcing everyone to eat Halal. If you fly on Emirates for example, all meals are Halal, so you don't get a choice. They don't offer a non Halal meat option - you'd have to order vegetarian.

Why oh why is this country so weak? Personally I think this slaughter method should be banned in the UK anyway. Let's hope Gate Gourmet do the right thing here and keep with having options rather than forcing British people into eating meat slaughtered to other religious standards.

A few years ago loads of sheep were nicked. They were found in a big barn being slaughtered for Halal meat.
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With you Suzysparkle.
 
My twopenneth...

I suspect there's a difference between the true guidelines of halal slaughter and how it is put into practise. I also suspect that although it has been *believed* ny muslims for hundreds of years that the halal method causes minimal suffering, no one other than the animals can actually tell us how much they are suffering.

Have a read of this...
http://www.halalfoodauthority.co.uk/HFA Brief Guidlines for slaughtering.pdf

I do genuinely believe that the intention of the halal method is to minimise suffering, whether or not that works in practise is another issue.

I'm a veggie. I think all methods are ultimately barbaric. I would only eat meat that came from a local source and that wasn't slaughtered en masse in an abbatoir. So even if I wasn't veggie, I'd order veggie on flights and anywhere else where I couldn't trust the source.
 
Humans don`t need meat protein ,admittedly I eat dairy products and my own eggs..but never meat.We keep pet pigs..eating pork would be like you eating dog..ugh!
 
I came across something a while back, a study had been done which showed that halal/kosher slaughter could be more humane if done expertly. Something about massive drop in blood pressure resulting in rapid brain death. I'm sure it's out there if anyone wants to find it.
 
Now you see I've always wondered why the airlines cater to so many choices. Why not just offer one "main meal" your standard roast beef or whatever and then one minority meal.

This is a totally veggie/vegan/gluten free/halal/kosher/diabetic meal. By cutting out meat you wouldn't have to go down the halal slaughter method, and you would just need to tot up how many "non-standard" meals there are and serve the same to them all.

It would be pretty boring food I guess, salad probably, but it is only one meal and you can always take a pack up.
 
Why dont we all just lobby the fat cats and ask them to explain why we are being taken over a forigen race - are we not just celebrating the battle of britain - well i bet most of those poor lads are spinning in there graves - and at this rate we will all be wishing we had been invaded by the Germans - at least we knew whom we were fighting and at least we were able to fight back! It makes me sick to the core - the last 4/5 pariliments have THROWN this country away - they should be ashamed !
 
So are we now being told that Halal is the requirement of the majority? I can't believe it to be honest, what about Kosher in that case?

Having travelled a bit I have always managed to avoid Halal by eating vegetarian food, that is my choice and to be perfectly honest if I did have a special dietary requirement and wanted to eat then I would accept an additional charge for it.

This Country is going mad, or according to my OH, to the dogs!
 
Gingerwitch said:
Its days like this i wish i were FRENCH!!!!! - they would not pussy foot around this lot would they?

FGS if i went to saudi I would not be allowed to wear a mini skirt, drink vodka and have a snog.... "oh i am a christian i would cry - here is my cross..... you are picking on little old me.... i should have my rights!" - off with my head would be the answer and i wish this country would do the ruddy same! - anyway at this rate we will soon be a minority (we probably already are)... maybe we will get a few rights then!
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I completely agree with this! Everyone would be up in arms against Sarkozy but he wouldn't just give in and give the pro halal people their way. I think this country needs to learn to stand it's ground and not be so easily ordered around.
End of rant because if I get into this I'll just get carried away :o
 
Instead of ranting about Halal. if everyone who is concerned watches the film Food Inc. , they will be much more concerned about avoiding and protesting against factory farms, and the suffering that causes.
I'm veggie , but I believe that properly carried out halal is a less painful death, an army surgeon explained this to me!:)
 
Hurrah! Just spoke to my dad. Agreed, if the slaughterman is sufficiently skilled then it is just as quick.
Bear in mind this is a man who has seen a lot of animals, of all shapes and sizes, die and has had the job of making sure everything is above board and correct.
His words: "If it's going to die, it's going to die and no one method is any nicer than another, if it's a bullet or a knife, as long as it is done quickly and properly."
 
I did a google search on halal slaugher since I wasn't sure what it involved. There was an article by Temple Grandin who is the foremost expert on humane slaughter and livestock handling facilities. According to the article halal and kosher slaughering can be humane if the slaughterman knows what they are doing and they have proper restraint equipment to hold the animal upright, instead of hanging it while it is still alive.
 
bryngelenponies said:
I completely agree with this! Everyone would be up in arms against Sarkozy but he wouldn't just give in and give the pro halal people their way. I think this country needs to learn to stand it's ground and not be so easily ordered around.
End of rant because if I get into this I'll just get carried away :o
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I agree with this as well. The Popes' envoy was right we are a third world country.
 
I am not sure about Halal slaughter methods. Much like this thread, it is up for debate as to how humane it is. From what i have read, it is more dependant on the skill of the person slaughtering the animal to minimise suffering than the method itself.

I tend to eat meat only if i know it's origins (i.e, organic and free range, or raised on the farm where my horse is stabled). If i am unsure then i will happily take the vegetarian option.
 
boogles said:
Hmm I am not at all for eating halal .....so therefore I shall eat Veggie when I fly...simples
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Or, you could just fly with an airline other than BA, that doesn't serve all-halal meat. Equally simples.

Funny how the vast majority of reports of this outrage are from "fear the Muslims"-type sites. There's one called creepingsharia.com, FFS! And the BNP is hardly a reputable source of news.

The actual quote from the FT, whose readers have some semblance of an education, often even KNOW brown-skinned people, and generally see the Daily mail for the rag it is, says;

"BA told the Financial Times it had not yet discussed the move with Gate Gourmet and had no plans to change its menus."

Not quite the same as the story on the BNP and Mail websites...but then you wouldn't expect it to be.
 
Apparently Ascot Racecourse only serve Halal Chicken according to Broadcasting House (R4) this am. They say they can't inform people - too complicated. As the journalist explained they have to specify if meals contain nuts!!! so why not Halal chicken?
 
And I am sure no one at Ascot has keeled over and died from eating it.
Halal chicken slaughter and Western chicken slaughter really isn't that much different.
If people were using the term Kosher, instead, would there be such an uproar?
 
I apologise in advance for my ignorance but how do we know what meat has been slaughtered in this way? Does it have to be labelled?
 
As I don`t want any animal to die for me to indulge in un-necessery animal protein ,then of course veggie is the way.Assuming here then that if halal IS acceptable to some of you ..would you allow your horses/dogs to be killed in that way? Probably not! Another pet rant...would you allow your animals to be castrated without anaesthetic ??Most of your pork/lamb is so treated. It ain`t pleasant to be a humble farm animal in UK,and it needs to get these double standards sorted out.:mad:
 
Oh fgs. I lived in Sri Lanka for 4 years and loads of stuff was halal and I survived pretty well I think... What exactly is the issue? I read an article a while back (I can't remember where..I'll try and find it...) and it said that many halal killings are now *animal stunned *prayer said as animal killed and this is OK as the animal is technically still alive (just stunned) when the prayer is said... so again WHERE is the issue/difference? I cant imagine a "normal" killing is much more acceptable than halal. If your morals are so abused, go vegan.

And tbh if it was halal that made you stop going to KFC then you can't really talk as the chickens would have far more horrendous lives before the supposedly cruel killing...

But as CC says, keep freaking out...
 
The issue is this:-

EU directive states that all animals must be stunned prior to slaughter ....

Halal, and Kosha animals are not stunned prior to slaughter - what ever you may belive the poor beasts are hung up to bleed to death and can take up to 2.5 mins to die - a very traumatic and painful death - as crap as normal methods of slaugher are i really cant see a captive bolt, stunned animal struggling to live for up to 2.5 mins.... So why is the UK bending over backwards to allow this barbaric form of slaugher... now i agree the uk has an awful lot to answer on animal welfare - the closing down of most small slaugher houses has meant the the journey for many animals is a tramua in its self..... but this just leaves an awful taste in my mouth.... now the report in the mail today has said that many of these establishements are using this meat because of its "cheapness"- so easy way to sort this out... ban these methods of slaugher here in the uk, and if they want to eat this type of meat let them import it.... now that would also help the uk economey as well... imaging all those trucks having to come over the waters to our shores?, all the extra handling of food that would have to happen and all the extra employment generated....

But what will the great and good of the uk do? nothing... what will the RSPCA do about it.... nothing..... and like i said in an earlier post, its a pity so many courages, brave folks lost there lives to win the battle of britain as we sure as hell have lost it now!
 
this is the kind of thread i should avoid like the plague, but i really cannot ignore some of the raving racism being expressed here.....
my muslim relatives - british citizens/british taxpayers/mostly working in education/social work & the NHS [ ie - contributing to the smooth running of this country] practise a religion which has specific dietary rules - as do many others - they can now eat safely in many places
christanity has no remaining dietary rules - so objections to halal meet can only be because
a] you object to the method of slaughter - do you also object to kosher slaughter methods?
b]you object to the practises of islam - in which case - how much do you know about Islam & what are you doing to promote other religious practises in britain
 
rubysmum said:
a] you object to the method of slaughter - do you also object to kosher slaughter methods?
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That is what people have said time and time again. The method of slaughter for halal (and Kosher) meat is barbaric. Why does the animal have to be slung up and bled dry while still alive?

Maybe as someone with muslim relatives you can explain the reason for this practice.
 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ed-in-to-food-chain-says-minister-805396.html

I think this article from a couple of years ago describes it well.

My issue is the slaughter method. Why should more (and that's millions more) animals be slaughtered this way without reason? I am not religious at all, but I do believe animals should have a good life and the most humane slaughter available. For this reason, if these changes came about and I wanted to eat meat on an affected flight, it would be slaughtered by what I believe is a less humane way. That's not fair.

And no, I don't eat at KFC. All my meat comes from my butcher and is slaughtered locally (stunned first).

I can't see how this is racist? I don't object to other cultures / religions, but I do object if their beliefs that I don't agree with are forced upon me in this country (I accept that if I went to some other countries all meat is Halal or Kosher etc). It would be like me being forced to go to church. I'd object to that as well.
 
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