Across the UK there is debate raging around the suitability of religiously slaughtered meat. The RSPCA have campaigned for a ban on all non-stunned slaughter but have been accused of not making a big enough deal of it.

One of the issues for many is whether or not the meat is clearly marked or not and the following statement from Morrisons is now being widely shared on social media:

We respect the fact that some religious communities want to eat food produced in accordance with their beliefs and sell branded halal and kosher products where there is strong customer demand. It’s clear from the labelling that these products are halal or kosher.

Customers who do not wish to purchase halal or kosher products can choose Morrisons branded fresh meat in full confidence that all animals are stunned and no prayer is read at slaughter. The same applies to all of the meat sold from our in-store butchers counters.

All Morrisons-branded fresh meat is British, along with all of the meat sold from our in-store butchers counters. Uniquely, the majority is processed at our own abattoirs, giving us unrivalled control over provenance and quality.

Customers want to know that animals are treated well, which is why we were the first retailer to put CCTV in its abattoirs to reassure shoppers of good welfare practice at slaughter.

The Current advice from the RSPCA is as follows:

Slaughter without pre-stunning (for religious purposes)

We’re opposed to the slaughter of any animal without first ensuring it is rendered insensible to pain and distress.

We therefore believe that all animals should be stunned prior to slaughter. Evidence clearly indicates that slaughter without pre-stunning can cause unnecessary suffering.

What is religious slaughter?

In the UK, Jewish and Muslim communities are exempt from legal requirements to stun animals before slaughter. All Shechita (Jewish) and some Halal (Muslim) slaughter involves cutting the animal’s throat without stunning the animal first (pre-stunning).

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Animal Welfare Update report, which was published  in September 2017, revealed that 84 percent of animals slaughtered by the Halal method were stunned before slaughter.

We have been in touch with Morrisons as one issue their statement does not address is whether the meat sold labelled as Halal/Kosher comes from stunned animals. Most people would hope that it does in order to comply with RSPCA guidelines and we will keep you posted.

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