N.z. Halal, Are You Aware?

[Khandro]

Not sure whether this should go in 'Food' or 'R&S'. I'm informed (Spectator) that all lamb imported into the UK from New Zealand is halal, I had no idea of this.

If this is true the majority of the UK lamb-eating public, are eating halal meat whether they approve of this method of slaughter or not to satisfy the requirements of a small proportion of the population.

What do you think?

[hc4361]

Most of NZ lamb is sold to the Middle East and NZ is not prepared to change its slaughter practice for the UK market, it would be too costly

[Hypognosis]

@hc4361

That is roughly what my quoted screed had to say. Financial suicide to pander solely to UKers, in toto, let alone just the tiny minority fussed about slaughter methods or unwanted incantations.

Thinks: somebody is paid to just say these prayers all day, every day. Maybe several dozen of them, to keep pace with the throughput. Good money for little effort (although boringly repetitive as hell), or are they the knife-wielder as well?

[Hypognosis]

@vetuste_ennemi

//I don't know why you cite that thread.//

That was my answer to Khandro. We only discussed this the other week and it was quicker than typing from scratch. Also has a handy FAQ website link in it.
K has recently mentioned hospital so I can guess he missed that thread due to being seriously ill.

// I was trying to get theRoJ guys to defend their position. No luck there. //

J is for? (thinx) Ah, got it.

Are you saying there's more than one of them on AB? I thought we could count them on "the fingers of one finger"?

[hc4361]

Hypo, the prayers are played on a loop from a tape, cd, mp3 or whatever. There certainly isn't an Imam in attendance.

[hc4361]

Of course, the vast majority of 'Indian' restaurants and take aways in the UK are in fact Pakistan, Bangladesh or other and are Halal. The way I avoid eating Halal in these restaurants is by eating fish or vegetarian dishes.

[chelle7272]

It's not just NZ lamb
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10816716/Find-out-which-supermarkets-and-restaurants-sell-halal-meat.html

[Gromit]

If it s true, then it is a commercial decission.

NZ export lamb all over the world, including many muslim countries. It is easier for them to slaught in a way that muslim countries will buy their exports.

Most non muslims are not really bothered about whether the meat is halal or not. But it is useful that you have made us aware of the situation, so that meat eaters can make their decission at the supermarket. My guess is that most people will still buy New Zealand lamb.

[hc4361]

I buy only British lamb from my butcher who also has his own flock of sheep. Morrison's don't sell NZ lamb if you want to be sure what you are buying

[Khandro]

Gromit; //Most non muslims are not really bothered about whether the meat is halal or not.//

Well, this non-Muslim certainly is! Now I know, I won't be buying any more and I'm sending notice of the fact to the German Embassies in Berlin and London to tell them so. I don't expect them to lie awake worrying about it, but it's all I can do.

[Hypognosis]

Environmentalists may like to observe that it does make more sense to avoid shipping meat halfway round the planet and there are savings (better profits) to be made by shipping it only a quarter of the way (middle east, the sub-continent) or just around the corner (SE Asia).

Why Embassies, in particular, Khandro? Are you moving in elevated circles, these days, or are they best at dissemination of news? Or ate international relations at stake, with this?

[ummmm]

NZ lamb isn't just exported to the UK though.

[Hypognosis]

*Or are…

[wildwood]

Not sure what halal actually means, but if the this permits the animals to be stunned before the slaughter is performed, what is the problem?

What is the 'normal' procedure of killing meat animals.

I remember many years ago there was an outcry (and justly so) at exporting live animals from NZ to the middle east. These animals were packed in transporters like sardines and half died from heat and being trampled before they arrived.

[237SJ]

There is plenty of good lamb produced in Devon and Wales. You don`t need to buy from NZ

[hc4361]

And Yorkshire, Lancashire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and most other counties in England and Scotland

[Hypognosis]

@hc4361

//
Hypo, the prayers are played on a loop from a tape, cd, mp3 or whatever.
//

I'm not sure whether to bother to challenge how you might know this. The website certainly doesn't.

//There certainly isn't an Imam in attendance.//

I hope you haven't blown their gaffe? Not my intention to harm their trade.

Is a prayer valid if it's on tape? (Maybe worth its own thread).

@wildwood

'Normal' procedure is bolt gun.

Live transport was barbaric and I'm glad to hear they cleaned that up. At sea means out of the public eye and no journo would have found that out without help from the inside.

[Hypognosis]

@237sj & hc4361

I have no idea how NZ ever broke into our market unless it's the case that they had such a glut that they could undercut UK producers yet still profit, even while shipping them this far.

Presumably, Australia has so much of their own sheep that they couldn't sell there, leaving their options really narrow until they went halal, as Gromit set out.

[Togo]

Hypognosis see the post 22:40 wed. We were NZ main market until we joined the common market. We left them without a thought. Iran became their saviours but set conditions. Halal was the only way they could survive. By the way halal is not just a condition, in Muslim culture, for the slaughter of animals for consumption. Halal means permissible and is part of the religion in all aspects.

[hc4361]

Hypo, you may find this interesting

http://beefandlambmatters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/why-uk-imports-lamb-from-new-zealand.html

It's all to do with the British Empire, refrigerated ships in the 1880s and the mutual need to import lamb to Britain and for ecomonic growth in NZ

[hc4361]

Today, of course, NZ is left with a huge amount of lamb cuts that are rejected by the Muslim countries but are greatly favoured in the UK. These cuts aren't labelled Halal because the Muslims don't want them and they haven't been handled in the Halal way. As these cut are, in effect, surplus to requirements they are competitively priced making British lamb appear to be expensive.

The reality is that in real terms British lamb is cheaper than ever and farmers aren't deliberately overcharging for their meat. That's not to say the retailer doesn't add a premium, especially in the spring and around Easter for 'spring lamb'.

Support British farmers and buy British meat.