At the World Secure Food Chain conference 2-4 December 2009, in Hong Kong, Al Islami Foods
said that meat obtained from non-stunned animals is healthier and has a
longer shelf life.
And non-Halal and stunned meat is highly questionable, quoting a
research conducted by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research on
the same subject.
The final condition imposed by the Ifta committee of the Scientific
Research Institute for the use of stunning is that: “During bleeding,
stunning should not reduce the amount of blood”.
Research conducted on the effect of stunning on bleeding process
reported that stunning of animals or birds reduces the amount of blood,
which means the most of the blood has not been drained out from the
carcasses. This puts the meat obtained from stunned animals or birds
under a food safety issue, a sign of which, it will be unsafe and could
lead to a shorter shelf life.
These arguments were put forward by Joachim Yebouet, a food safety and
quality expert and the chief operations officer (COO) at Al Islami
Foods, UAE, who spoke about ‘Halal Food Safety and Quality’ at the
conference.
“Consumers buying the meat of animals/birds that have been put under
stunning conditions will have to pay a higher price, as they will also
be paying for the extra blood in the meat (considering that meats are
purchased based on weight). This is considered as a malpractice and as
an added economical value for the meat industry,” Joachim said.
The Halal way for producing authentic Halal is: animals are raised on
natural, healthy and Halal feed, animals are physically fit,
hand-slaughtered by a Muslim and no stunning of any kind, reciting
Tasmiyyah (Bismillah Allahu Akbar, meaning, Allah is great) while
slaughtering.
Saleh Abdullah Lootah, the managing director of Al Islami Foods, said:
“On annual basis, Al Islami spends AED 3 million to ensure real Halal
and quality meat procedures, investing into quality management and real
Halal supplies, no stunning, Halal ingredient, no antibiotics or growth
hormones, raw meats are always at its best conditions, without fat,
skins, giblets or trimmings, standardised health & safety
procedures”.
