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EU: European Parliament aims to make Halal meat ‘second class’

salama — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:27:12 +0000

By Abdalhamid Evans, Senior Analyst, Imarat Consultants

In June 2010, the European Parliament introduced an amendment that, if passed into law, will effectively force Halal – and Kosher – meat products to be labelled in a way that implies that unethical and inhumane practices have been used.

The amendment would require that all meat from un-stunned slaughter would have to be labelled accordingly, ie “Meat from slaughter without stunning”.

Opponents of un-stunned animals have previously tried to force this issue on the basis of animal welfare, but there is no credible evidence that stunning is any less traumatic than slaughter without stunning according to religious guidelines. In the absence of any scientific evidence, the pro-stunning lobby within the EU have changed tack, now claiming that this labelling is necessary for ‘consumer information’.

The implication is clearly that people with ethical concerns should be warned that animals from religious slaughter have been killed without prior stunning, ie in a less than ethical manner.

The effect of this would be to single out and pejoratively label meat products derived from religious slaughter, thereby creating a second class of ‘less humane’ meat products.

If the concern for keeping the consumers fully aware of how their meat has been slaughtered, then surely it would be fair to legislate that all meat products should be labelled accordingly.

To single out religious slaughter for mandatory labelling is a clear case of religious discrimination by endorsing the unproven view that religious slaughter is less ethical than normal slaughter.

In addition to being a case of discrimination, this proposed legislation would also be inconsistent with the WTO regulations affecting international trade, according to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Pejorative labelling of Halal or Kosher meat products would effectively act as a barrier to trade.

Article 2.2 of the TBT states that ‘technical regulations shall not be more trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfil a legitimate objective…’ Legitimate objectives are clearly defined as including national security, preventing deceptive practices, protecting human health and safety, animal plant life and health, and the environment.

Consumer information is therefore not a legitimate objective, especially on the basis of a one-sided view of what constitutes ethical practices of animal slaughter.

Even if consumer information were to be considered a legitimate objective, then it would have to be done without being more trade restrictive than necessary. Forcing mandatory labelling on one method of slaughter and not the other would be trade restrictive, and it would therefore only be fair to require all methods of slaughter to be clearly described on the product label. If consumer information is deemed a legitimate objective (which it currently is not) then go ahead and inform the consumer fully…not just partially.

Indeed, the use of voluntary labelling would seem far more appropriate in this case. If the pro-stunning lobby are so convinced of their ethical superiority, let them label their products accordingly, in the same way as non-GMO, organic, fair trade or non-cruelty products voluntarily label their products.

This would be a less trade-restrictive way of keeping consumers informed. Voluntarily labelling products as ‘stunned before slaughter would keep consumers informed without singling out Halal and Kosher products for discriminatory treatment that would have an adverse effect on their trade access.

This regulation, were it to become law, would have a knock-on effect that would be a concern to any meat producer that exports to the EU. The difficulty of determining – and then labelling – all downstream and further processed Halal and Kosher meat products would certainly create an unnecessary layer of regulatory control and expense. Not what is needed in today’s economic climate.

On the basis of its discriminatory nature and non-compliance with WTO guidelines, this proposed EU provision on stunning should be removed.

NB. These issues will be brought to the attention of the delegates attending the World Halal Forum Europe in Earls Court, London, on 10-11 November 2010, where it will be addressed in some detail

For more details, contact the WHF Europe secretariat on 01953 798482 or email hamid@worldhalalforum.org

Brussels: Halal hotel rooms

salama — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:20:42 +0000

Islam in Europe 31 August 2010

Starting in 2011, hotels in Brussels could get a halal label. No porn channels, no pork, but with a Koran and a prayer rug, and a pointer towards Mecca. The label will be awarded by BECI (Brussels enterprises, commerce and industry) starting in 2011. It is a European first.

“The aim at first is to award a label to rooms per floor. But we don’t rule out to later have a type of ‘omni-halal’ label for whole hotels, which have separate pools, among other things” says Bruno Bernard, a consultant for BECI.

Bernard says attention is being paid to all the details. For example, it shouldn’t be possible to deliver a ham sandwich by mistake to a halal room, and the hotel should ensure that there are no prostitution on its premises.

Asks if this concept won’t encounter resistance, Bernard told La Libre Belgique: “When you go on vacation in Egypt or Turkey, you’re happy that you can calmly drink a beer in the hotel bar. Halal-rooms in Brussels are simply the same.”

Several hotels, including some owned by Persian Gulf citizens, showed interest. In a quick survey of six Brussels hotels, only the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel – which said they have no special rooms for Muslims, but that they always meet their customer’s specific needs – showed any interest, but added that religious tourism is not their main business. Other chains preferred not to comment. Bruno Bernard prefers to speak of ‘cultural tourism and business’.

This is not BECI’s first step in the halal market. Bruno Bernard says it’s a great market niche, but one with very few players, and a recent study showed that 17% of Brussels residents eat halal. In March BECI launched a halal certificate for industrial products, and was roundly criticized for it, with some saying that they encouraged the creeping Islamization of society.

Olivier Willocx, BECI managing director, says the project was misunderstood. He’s still surprised by the ‘passionate outburst’ prompted by the initiative. He clarifies that the certificate is meant for non-meat products for export, and not for the local market. They wanted to ensure transparency in this field. There are some ‘certificators’ who charge 20,000 euros to certificates that aren’t recognized by everybody, and there’s also fraud. Products are presented as halal without actually being halal.

BECI, who say they want to facilitate halal and not to certify it, charge every company that wants a halal certification for its product 1500 euro. A European certificate is recognized everywhere in the Muslim world. The charge is used to pay for the imam who comes specially from Algeria (a country which recognizes the link between church and State), and inspects the production site for three days before deciding whether to issue the certificate. Spot checks are also provided, and in case of fraud, the certificate is rescinded for five years, says Bruno Bernard.

BECI now gets an application for their new label every day, and they hope to get to 500 certificates a year. Still, companies are very discreet about being certified. The only companies to advertise their labels are Colona (sauces), Charlemagne (chocolate) and Night Orient (non-alcoholic festive drinks). Bruno Bernard points out that this certificate opens many doors, including those of the lucrative Middle East market.

Sources: GvA (Dutch), La Libre Belgique (French)

Belgium: Halal training for prison guards, doctors

salama — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:47:51 +0000

Belgium: Halal training for prison guards, doctors Prisons According to our sources, the Federal Public Service (SPF) of Justice will soon launch a pilot project to train personnel in prisons about the problematics of halal. Apparently, though it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the percentage of Muslims in Belgian prisons. observers agree that there are many religious Muslims there

Prisons

According to our sources, the Federal Public Service (SPF) of Justice will soon launch a pilot project to train personnel in prisons about the problematics of halal. Apparently, though it is difficult to obtain exact figures on the percentage of Muslims in Belgian prisons. observers agree that there are many religious Muslims there. And it also frequently happens that inmates convert to Islam in prison. Prison guards, nurses and doctors are often confronted with requests or conduct by prisoners which they are not trained to handle. “It is true that there is a pilot project on the problematics of halal, but it’s briefings,” confirms an official of the SPF Justice.

It happened that inmates refused medication because it contained animal fat (pork jelly in some suppositories) or because it wasn’t halal. Or worse yet, they take the medicine prescribed by the doctor, but refuses care. Another problematic situation concerns the case where prisoners are treated, for example, with methadone, and refuse care because it’s during Ramadan.

The SPF Justice turned to two specialists in the field to lead the training session: Belgian Bruno Bernard and French Florence Bergeaud-Blackler. Together they published an interesting practical guide (“Comprendre le halal”, understanding halal) on the problematics of halal, a modern business with financial implications and different certifications.

An expert in foreign trade, Bruno Bernard advises the Chamber of Commerce of Brussels on all matters relating to European halal certifications. A Phd in sociology,Florence Bergeaud-Blackler is an associate researcher at the institute for the study and research of the Arab and Muslim world (CNRS) in France.

The sessions will start in October. They will initially be organized for health-care workers, mostly doctors, nurses and psychotherapists, and later it would be extended to prison guards and cooks. It appears that there’s a lot of interest in the first session among prison personnel who want more information about the problematics of Islam, as a specific number of participants are needed in order to organize the sessions and apparently the quotas have been met.

Participation in the sessions is voluntary. “Our mission isn’t to provide all the answers to the participants in these sessions, but to give them the basics that will allow them to avoid conflicts and move towards solutions. It will also help them to respond satisfactorily to the statements fo certain inmates on things which are completely wrong or false,” Bruno Bernard told us when we contacted him.

Based on her experience in France, Florence Bergeaud-Blackler says that prison officers feel “alone and bad when dealing with statements using Islamic references that escape them.”

Initially, the nursing staff of two Francophone prisons, notably the prisons of Andenne and Ittre, will participate in the training sessions. A similar initiative will target prisons in northern Belgium, with a Flemish specialist. Steps are underway to appoint one.

France is closely following the Belgian approach, as initial contacts were made with the French authorities for similar training sessions to be organized there.

Hospitals

Prisons are not the only ones facing problems with halal and Ramadan. Hospitals in Belgium are also dealing with these issues. “The religious commandments are followed widely also in hospitals. Some patients, notably the older ones, completely reject the idea of not observing Ramadan. They say they’re about to die and they fear going back to their God without observing the fast. Means with pork are routinely rejected. Menus with meat are generally refused. Menus suspected of containing meat or alcohol products are avoided. The possibility of the presence of prohibited animals parts (pork gelatin or insulin) sometimes causes leads certain patients not to take their medication if they are not sure the products are allowed.,” says Florence Bergeaud-Blackler.

She says that this situation affects the health of the patients with elderly patients, nursing mothers and people with chronic illness (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, epilepsy etc.). “Accidents are not rare. A Parisian doctor of diabetes noted decompensated diabetes 2-3 times more frequently,leading to emergency hospitalization, in this period.”

She says that fasting or refusing non-halal food, can lead to malnutrition among vulnerable people. And according to the results of a study in the British Journal of Nutrition, a malnourished patient is five times more likely to get iatrogenic infection. “Malnourished patients are at increased risk of getting anemia, asthenia (loss of strength), wasted muscles, impaired immune system which increases the risk of infections. They more serious risks are blood [ed: should be lung?] infections like pneumonia and blood poisoning which can lead to large number of premature deaths,” says Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, recalling a Belgian study on the economic costs incurred by malnourished patients.

“The direct costs of undernourishment in institutionalized health care comes mainly from extended stays due to weakness of the patients, their poorer ability to recover, or the need for additional care resulting from diseases contracted during the hospital stay (e.g. iatrogenic infections). A reporty by the Belgian Society for Clinical Nutrition estimated that 400 million euros a year, that is to say 7% of the annual hospital costs, are additinal direct costs of malnutritiion.” This doesn’t count the direct costs of the stay itself, and addtionally there are indirect costs incurred by the patient’s family (travel, home nursing, lower income), but also by the community (absentieeism, replacing workers and thus lower productivity).

According to our sources, the university hospital in Liège ordered a copy of the book ‘Understanding Halal’. “We do not buy halal products, but we must say that we’ve never been asked for halal food. However, our Muslim patients have a pork-free diet,” says Jean Codognotto, purchasing manager of the hospital. The Citadelle Hospital in the Liège region also say their patients have personalized dishes and the meal preparation is supervised by the dietetic service.

Source: La Libre Belgique 1, 2 (French)

Translated by Esther – IslaminEurope.blogspot.com

EU: Halal Holidays in the Sun

salama — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:34:45 +0000

By Shaimaa Khalil
BBC News, Alanya

If you see a veiled Muslim woman sitting on a beach watching her husband and children splashing in the waves, don’t assume it’s her religion that keeps her from joining in the fun.

Muslim women can often be seen swimming while veiled – though they may not want to on beaches where most women are wearing bikinis.

The problem also occurs in some resorts in Muslim countries with an international tourist trade.

Expensive hotels in some Arab countries actually ban veiled women from their pools so that Western guests feel at home.

One answer for Muslim families who want to play in the water together is Halal tourism.

The idea took off several years ago, as hotel companies witnessed the success of the Sharia-compliant banking and investment sector and saw their opportunity.

It encompasses the main aspects of Sharia-compliant living such as no alcohol, Halal food, separate mosques for prayer and modest dressing.

And with nearly 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, the potential market is huge.

I find it very alarming – cultural racism or religious racism, which is what this to me is, is saying there is no common humanity

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Mizan Raja, his wife Nazma Begum and their four children travelled this summer from the UK to Alanya, on Turkey’s southern, Mediterranean coast, for a beach holiday.

They had been to British resorts before – such as Brighton and Southend-on-Sea – but Nazma was could only watch while the others played.

“I really thought I was missing out to be honest, like I was held back from doing something that was really fun and enjoyable.

“But here, everybody has been getting involved and having lots of fun,” she said.

Women-only facilities

Large screens in the reception area of the family’s four-star hotel advertised the hotel’s facilities, without using female models.

Between enjoying the beach, the restaurants, the segregated spa facilities and pool areas, guests hear the call to prayer five times a day.

THE BURKINI

The term burkini (or burqini) was used by Lebanese Australian Australian designer Aheda Zanetti for a swimming suit she introduced for Muslim women in 2006-7

It is a word made by joining together parts of burka and bikini

Today it is also used informally to describe home-made swimming costumes that cover the body except for the face hands and feet

Another feature that many women consider the highlight is an open-air women-only swimming pool on the sixth floor, at the very top of the hotel.

Even the elevator accessing the pool is for women alone.

Before Nazma and I got into the pool we were both checked for cameras and mobile phones.

Nazma’s experience of women-only pools in England was quite different, she said.

“I’ve actually been to a women-only pool session and all of a sudden a man walked in and he was going to be the lifeguard, which contradicted what it was all about,” she said.

A remarkable thing about the women-only pool area is how relaxed the women look.

Most of the women in the hotel were covered. They either wore a headscarf (hijab) or full-face veil (niqab).

In the ladies’ pool however, none of the women were covered, and some were wearing regular swimming costumes.

“One person, the other day, I didn’t recognise her!” Nazma said. “She was wearing the burkini but she looked so different because she (normally) wears the niqab.

“I could see her face and she was smiling. You could tell she felt safe and secure in this environment,” Nazma added.

Growing market

On the beach I met Thuraya Al Haj Mustafa, a Palestinian-German who has been coming to Turkey with her family for the past five years.

They were one of the first families to try the Halal beach holidays.

“What I enjoy myself is being able to go to the beach with my whole family, not just my husband, to go to the sea. I can go as well. I can swim with my children,” she said.

“I can have fun with them… you know in Arab countries like Palestine it’s normal for ladies to sit by the beach but not to swim. Here I can do everything I like,” Thuraya said.

With countries like Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia leading the way in Halal tourism, the Middle East has yet to exploit this young, growing market.

Halal tourism brings people together, argues Thuraya Al Haj Mustafa (right)

Only a handful of Sharia or Halal hotel developments have so far materialised in the region – yet the World Tourism Organisation says Gulf travellers spend $12bn (£7.7bn) annually on leisure travel.

Abdul Sahib Al Shakiry, an Iraqi tourism expert and founder of Islamic Tourism Magazine, said that a good chunk of this money could be channelled into the Halal tourism industry.

“People want to spend money and if you give them what they want, they’ll spend money in this direction and there will be business,” he said.

But while some welcome the arrival of the Islamic beach holiday, others see it as a form of isolationism.

‘Double standards’

“I find it very alarming,” says Muslim writer and columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

“Cultural racism or religious racism, which is what this to me is, is saying there is no common humanity. That we have to, even on holiday, be apart from the rest of you.

“You can go on holiday anywhere in the world and you don’t have to drink, nobody forces you to drink.

A sense of freedom: Burkini-wearing is the norm on a Halal beach holiday

“I accept the Halal food argument but there are always other thing you can eat.

“How would we feel if there were Christian-White only holidays advertised?” she said.

“We would be appalled. You can’t have double standards.”

Thuraya, on the other hand, said that such holidays are not isolating but rather bring people together.

“You see Muslim people from all over the world. You have Muslim people from China, Russia, Belgium, France.

“The other thing is that when I go to any other normal vacation or hotel they wouldn’t accept me wearing the burkini,” she added.

“They don’t make me feel comfortable so why should I go there?

“I’m not searching for isolation but there’s no other possibility for me as a Muslim lady,” she said.

Whether or not Halal tourism drives people apart, or brings them together, one thing is for sure – Mizan, Nazma and their children had a fantastic time on this beach holiday.

On their last day in Alanya, Nazma told me that the one thing that has given her a sense of freedom she had not had before, is the burkini.

“I’m not held back any more. I’ve been able to go in the sea and take part and not think twice.

“Everyone I’ve seen has been wearing burkinis, so I don’t feel like the odd one out,” she said.

“It’s been a really good experience and something that we want to come back and enjoy next year.”

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EU: Volys Star Belgium Resumes Exporting to the UAE

salama — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:02:18 +0000

After two long years of waiting, Belgium based Volys Star NV is able to resume its exports of Halal Premium Poultry Products to the United Arab Emirates.

The U.A.E. maintain very strict rules when it comes to approving Halal Certifying Bodies. For a considerable time no Halal Certifying Bodies were approved in Belgium. The one instance which got approved two years ago unfortunately did not possess sufficient expertise in Halal meat production. As at the same time the U.A.E. did not allow to work with non-Belgian Halal Certifying Bodies, meat exports of Halal meat products from Belgium to the U.A.E. came to a halt.

As Market Leader in Premium Halal Poultry Products, Volys Star is proud to say that it has recently been granted permission by the U.A.E. Authorities to resume its Halal Premium Poultry exports to the U.A.E.

We are honoured by the U.A.E. Authorities’ trust in our company and wish to express our gratitude for this decision. We would also like to thank our importers/distributors and customers for their patience and continued loyalty.

EU: Boosting Tourism With a Halal Label

salama — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:47:35 +0000

By John W. Miller, www.blogs.wsj.com

Boosting Tourism With a Halal Label

The Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry, a chamber of commerce-type organization, has launched a halal certification scheme aimed at attracting Muslim tourists to hotels and other hospitality businesses in the city, as well as helping firms to export goods to the Islamic world.

To obtain the certification, companies have to scrub their premises of alcohol, pork products and excessively exposed human flesh, as well as provide a room for Islamic prayer. A number of hotels in Brussels have already signed up to get some of their rooms certified. That means no ham or alcohol in the mini-bar, no porn on TV and a prayer mat.

Another goal, said BECI spokesman Roel Veyt, is for “companies exporting to the Islamic world” to obtain the scheme. Halal certifications already exist in the Islamic world, and Belgium is a country in Europe where reputable Halal certification is available, he said. Some private companies label their products as halal on their own.

Sweden: Christians support abolishing halal slaughter ban

salama — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:52:33 +0000

Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), Sweden is the only country in Europe banning kosher and halal slaughter. The Swedish Christian community should show tolerance to Jews and Muslims and demand to abolish the ban, say four representatives of Christian Sweden.

The four – Sven-Bernard Fast, Caroline Krook, Peter Weiderud and Karin Wiborn – write in an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter (SE), that the Swedish parliament introduced a ban of religious slaughter in 1938 to complicate life for the Jews.

The four write that the rest of Europe ended this discrimination after the war, but in Sweden the ban remains for animal welfare reasons, which complicates life for Jews and Muslims.

The writers think that parliament members know what needs to be done to combine religious slaughter with the modern requirement of animal welfare.

“We know that kosher and halal slaughter are significantly less painful than the culturally cherished Swedish slaughter of grouse, elk and crayfish.

Faith leaders accuse EU of discrimination over compulsory labelling of halal foods

salama — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:07:41 +0000

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Independent

Jewish and Muslim leaders have accused the European Union of “naked discrimination” by ordering the compulsory labelling of all kosher and halal meat.

An advisory group of imams and rabbis at the Office of the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, said it was wrong to single out meat acceptable to some communities while not requiring the identification of conventional methods of slaughter.

MEPs voted overwhelmingly by 559 to 54 in favour of labelling meat from slaughterhouses that do not practise stunning, to inform secular consumers or those concerned with animal welfare how the animal died.

Millions of cows, goats and chickens bleed to death each year in the UK after having their throats slit under Muslim and Jewish slaughter techniques. The practices are exempt from legislation requiring animals to be numbed to pain, but animal welfare groups and the Government’s veterinary experts say they are cruel and should be ended.

The RSCPA supports compulsory labelling because, although religious meat is well identified in kosher and halal butchers, some surplus meat enters the general food chain. The UK has stopped keeping statistics, but Meat Hygiene Service figures from 2004 suggest that 114 million halal animals and 2.1 million kosher animals are killed annually. One Muslim organisation, the Halal Food Authority, insists on stunning, but other halal and almost all kosher slaughterhouses say stunning would violate their interpretation of religious texts.

The imams’ and rabbis’ advisory group and the inter-faith organisation Faith Matters complained that the ruling would not apply to other slaughter methods such as electrocution, which involves stunning.

“Faith leaders have said that these regulations unfairly target kosher and halal products, as conventional stunning methods have a 9 per cent failure rate and may also cause pain to animals,” it said. They added: “We support the concept of fair and universal labelling but believe that such an amendment is naked discrimination. It singles out religious communities who have been careful to undertake humane food preparation for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”

Labelling is unlikely to come into force for some time because it requires approval from EU member states and a second reading in the European Parliament. Once adopted, large food businesses will have three years to adapt to the rules and smaller operators five years to comply.

Religious slaughter is banned in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. The British Veterinary Association says all animals should be stunned before slaughter but, where that does not happen, religiously-slaughtered meat should be labelled to inform shoppers what they are buying.

Last year, the Government’s veterinary advisers, the Farm Animal Welfare Council, said chicken and turkeys were likely to be conscious for up to 20 seconds after an incision across their neck. “Such a large cut will inevitably trigger sensory input to pain centres in the brain,” it said. “Such an injury would result in significant pain and distress before insensibility supervenes.”

EU: HalalTrip launches into 3 languages

salama — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:55:46 +0000

Vienna – Within three months halaltrip.com (http://www.halaltrip.com) generated 40.000 page impressions and is listing about 300 hotels worldwide offering halal services.

Recently halaltrip.com launched its French, German and Turkish edition. “From the beginning internationalization was our big goal and we are happy to launch the first translations within such a short period of time. We hopefully can continue this way and to launch our services in Arabic and other languages soon!” says Karim Saad, founder of halaltrip.com.

Additionally the halal hotel review site now offers a new search system to easily find the desired hotel. Each search result can be filtered based on the numbers of stars and halal services offered.

halatrip is a free hotel review site strongly targeted at Muslims looking for holidays complying with the Sharia. Halaltrip does not serve as a travel agency, hence it is a strongly unbiased free web service providing reliable researched information on Halal travelling. Each hotel profile includes information on the serving of alcohol, Halal Food and the availability of ladies-only facilities like pools and other wellness activities.

New EU rules require compulsory labelling of halal meat

salama — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:41:11 +0000

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Independent

Halal and kosher meat will have to be labelled under new European Union rules.

Millions of cows, goats and chickens are slaughtered without stunning each year in the UK under Muslim and Jewish practices, which enjoy an exemption from animal welfare laws.

The RSPCA, other welfare organisations and the Government’s veterinary experts say the practice is cruel and should be ended, but another concern is that the meat re-enters the general food chain where it is unwittingly consumed by the general population.

In a series of votes on food labelling this week, which also backed compulsory country-of-origin labelling on all meat, MEPs voted by 559 to 54 for compulsory labelling of the religious slaughter of meat without stunning. While kosher and halal meat is well labelled in specialist butchers and food outlets, the regulation would alert general consumers to supplies entering the mainstream food system.

EU member states will have to approve the legislation and it is likely to return to the European Parliament for a second reading. Once adopted, food business will have three years to adapt to the rules. Smaller operators, with fewer than 100 employees and an annual turnover under €5m (£4.2m), will have five years to comply.

Animal welfare groups welcomed the move. Dr Marc Cooper, a farm animal welfare scientist at the RSPCA, said: “Clear labelling is something we have been calling for, so that the welfare-conscious consumer can be informed about the method of slaughter. From a welfare point of view, it’s an unnecessary practice. It causes pain and distress.”

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) said: “The BVA believes that all animals should be effectively stunned before slaughter to improve the welfare of these animals at slaughter. However, as long as slaughter without stunning is permitted, the BVA has argued for any meat from this source to be clearly labelled to enable all consumers to fully understand the choice they are making.”

Religious slaughter is banned in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. The UK has stopped keeping statistics, but Meat Hygiene Service figures from 2004 suggest that 114 million halal animals and 2.1 million kosher animals are killed annually.

One Muslim organisation, the Halal Food Authority, insists that slaughterhouses stun the animals to render them insensible to pain, but in other halal and almost all kosher slaughterhouses, animals bleed to death without stunning.

Religious groups say that doing so would be against their interpretation of religious texts, and they are exempted from the terms of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995.

In a report last year, the Farm Animal Welfare Council said chicken and turkeys were likely to be conscious for up to 20 seconds after a transverse incision is made across their neck.”Such a large cut will inevitably trigger sensory input to pain centres in the brain,” the council said. “Such an injury would result in significant pain and distress before insensibility supervenes.”

Professor Bill Reilly, president of the BVA, said: “This is a huge step forward in improving the welfare of animals at slaughter. The more consumers understand these issues, the more consumer power can make a difference.”

Halal and kosher

*Each year more than £2bn is spent on Halal meat by British Muslims. The Arabic word means “lawful” or “permitted”. The opposite of halal is haram. Meat can only be called Halal if the animal is blessed before it is slaughtered.

*Kosher slaughter is predicated on the principle of “tsa’ar ba’alei chayim” (not causing unnecessary suffering to animals). Historically, the kosher killing technique was one of the more humane methods available.

*Traditional halal meat is killed by hand and must be blessed by the slaughterman. More than 70 per cent of animals whose meat is sold as halal are electrically stunned before they are killed.

*Islam has strict laws on the proper method of slaughtering an animal. One, called dhabihah consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck that cuts the jugular vein.

*Madonna and Jerry Hall are among celebrities who are reportedly fans of a strict orthodox Jewish diet, while a number of US clinics offer kosher diet therapy.

*KFC is among a growing number of fast-food retailers that have trialled Halal meat in communities where demand is strong. It has 85 stores with an all-halal menu.

*Up to three-quarters of poultry sold as halal in the UK is falsely labelled, a representative from the English Beef and Lamb Executive’s halal steering group said. Most is slaughtered by a machine, not an individual.