-
Not all halal is equal...and I would argue all most of those who want to eat halal look for is the official British halal standard label or poster and thats all. For example one Nandos or kfc might be fine and another not.
The strictest form of halal is a slit to throat while it is conscious and verses sung.
In the loosest sense the animal is stunned and then goes down the same avenue as non halal except prayers are played and the blade has verses engraved on it. There is a lot of debate with the Muslim community.
Either way it's barbaric. Same goes for kosher.
I can bet that the chains use the cheapest and least labour intensive form to maximise profits. We just don't know whether the animal is stunned or not, which is problematic for me.
wildwest-
Totally with you on that one. Hence my loosely pointed comment earlier about not wanting to be affiliated with the whole halal/belief thing anymore. There are too many variables depending on your cultural affiliation (where in the muslim world you're from, my background is sunni, so pretty generic or strict again, depending where you're from) but it all starts from the same standing flag.
It doesn't matter how much faith/economic spin you put on it, it's still rotten from the inside out.
Only thing
Chak
Coming from said background, I've done some digging regarding the matter. It really depends entirely on the moral code of ethics by the individual in business/authority.
What I'm sure of now is that it's really little understood by the majority of non halal eaters and the 'brutality' term gets thrown around.
It's no more or less brutal than standard abattoir procedures, which as a general rule of thumb, all really fall under certain universal guidelines (stunning) set by regulators, with the caveat that certain religious procedures are followed.
The exception being said 'moral religious standards'. Some would be surprised to find that certain halal eaters/suppliers really do care about where the livestock is sourced from and how it is killed. Just because the methodology is different, the end result is still the same.
Depending where you're from, there remains a certain 'relationship' you have with the meat you consume, and again, that depends on individualistic thinking.
Majority of halal meat eaters only buy from butchers, which isn't to say they're not crooked, but the incentive to find where the meat comes from is much more prevalent than picking up a sealed pack from Asda's halal section.
There's a lot of misinformation regarding halal meat and it's consumption. This isn't to say the meat is always to a higher standard, it's just that religious beliefs force said consumer to find meat as close to source as possible.
Whether minority or majority depends entirely on individual and how 'true' to their faith they are, but that's always flexible whatever your affiliation is.
Now saying all this, I don't eat halal anymore, but it all falls under the same umbrella for me these days. We eat too much of everything without giving a toss about where it all comes from be it meat (halal or not) and veg.
If I buy now, I try to make it as unpackaged as possible and as close as possible to where I'm standing.
Tl;DR