THE INDEPENDENT: Halal and kosher meat should be labelled when it is put on sale so the public can decide whether they want to buy food from animals that have bled to death, the Food and Farming minister says.
Lord Rooker said all meat from animals killed by slitting their throats should be marked, allowing customers to decide whether the suffering troubled their consciences. "I object to the method of slaughter," he said.
"My choice as a customer is that I would want to buy meat that has been looked after and slaughtered in the most humane way possible."
His office later said that Britain would play a "full part" on religious slaughter practices in negotiations to introduce a European-wide labelling system by 2010.
Lord Rooker's comments were welcomed by the RSPCA, which is concerned about the experience of animals killed for Jews and Muslims.
The veteran minister, who speaks for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the Lords, raised the issue of religious slaughter in a discussion of animal welfare in other countries. "The country, source of origin and method of slaughter for meat ought to be on the label because that way I could stop the bloody halal meat that is excess to the industry's requirements being slipped into the food chain without people being told."
More than 100 million animals a year are killed for kosher and halal meat in Britain. They bleed to death in what government advisers say is "very significant pain". Certain cuts such as the hindquarters of cattle, however, are deemed inedible by religious teachings and are sold back into the general food chain. Halal and Kosher Meat Should Not Be Slipped In to Food Chain, Says Minister >>> By Martin Hickman | April 7, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
