Introduction
People have been asking about a recent visit by Islamic scholars to a poultry slaughterhouse. The scholars who went are not affiliated with HMC. Since HMC does not certify KFC (Shoaib, 2018), it cannot comment on its supply chain. However, we understand that some KFC restaurants are Halal-certified and that the poultry is stunned and hand-slaughtered. Questions about products or branches should be directed to HFA.
On the advice of scholars, HMC has never accepted stunning, mechanical slaughter or gassing of animals (Shoaib, 2018). HMC has also implemented a unique monitoring system that ensures all products meet the HMC standard at all times (Shoaib, 2018). HMC personnel are at every abattoir where certified meat is produced (Shoaib, 2018).
In addition, HMC monitors continue to randomly visit outlets four times a week to ensure products are HMC-certified. It is the monitoring and inspection that sets HMC apart from other certification systems and gives Muslims confidence in their purchases. We encourage Muslims to read about the Halal Food Fraud that has occurred in the Halal supply chain over the years and what HMC does to combat it.
The purchase and consumption of Halal foods is a religious obligation for all Muslims (Shoaib, 2018). The word would speak for itself in an ideal world, but consumers need trusted certification with food fraud rampant in the global supply chain. HMC employ over 220 people (Shoaib, 2018).
In the last month alone, HMC staff spent 14,448 hours (Shoaib, 2018) visiting outlets to ensure their food is Halal. It is a registered charity and not-for-profit. The National Executive Committee comprises scholars who are Trustees of the organisation. The HMC was formed to serve all Muslims and consumers.
HMC aims to regulate and inspect Halal products from start to finish. HMC is dedicated to providing peace of mind and security to Muslims and the wider community (Shoaib, 2018).
HFA vs. HMC: A comparison
Whether halal or haram, food is one thing that Muslims can agree on. The majority of Muslims want to know and trust that their food is halal (Halal or Haram?, 2014). With the UK meat scandal and food being contaminated with horse meat or pork (Halal or Haram?, 2014), the focus has shifted to halal foods.
How are halal foods made? What about the factories and tools? Is a chicken stunned? Is pork contaminated with halal meats? Who controls the halal food chain? Whom should we trust? These are big questions that we need answers to. I have included information about the UK’s two main halal food regulatory bodies, HMC and HFA. Muslims are safer in the Halal Monitoring Board (HMC).
The HMC slaughters animals according to Islamic tradition (Halal or Haram?, 2014). That is, it should be done by a Muslim, with the Name of Allah pronounced, and according to the Qur’an and Sunnah (Halal or Haram?, 2014). HMC disapproves of stunned chickens (Halal or Haram?, 2014) because some (not all) die before slaughter.
I believe Muslims are ‘safe’ when they eat HMC-approved meat. This is from the HMC website: HMC has adopted the following key Halal criteria:
• Before slaughter, the animal is healthy (also the correct species of animal)
• Mandatory Muslim slaughterman Tasmiyah (blessing) on each animal
• An incision that renders the animal insensible to pain (hand slaughter)
• 3 of the 4 main vessels must be cut to comply
Also, all meat is labelled, sealed (where applicable), and cross-contaminated. This is because HMC wants to work in plants that handle pork (Halal or Haram?, 2014). Many factors have led to Halal products being mislabelled. Among them:
• Slaughter men not reciting the Tasmiyah (a requirement for Halal) or using taped recitation • Use of rotating blades and mechanical slaughter (often severing necks and missing frontal cuts)
• The stunning of animals raises questions about whether they were alive at slaughter
• Pork in Halal products or cross-contamination with non-Halal meats
• Insufficient or incorrect incisions to meet Halal criteria
The HFA appears to be the preferred regulator for non-Muslim food companies (Halal or Haram?, 2014) seeking approval, allowing stunning and machine slaughter (even though the HFA accepts that stunning is frowned upon in shariah in its HFA Brief Guidelines for slaughtering).
Because the HFA seems to favour large corporations (KFC, Freemans, Nandos), I can only assume that the HFA is more lenient (Halal or Haram?, 2014) and that there is money involved. It appears that HFA’s attitude towards the issue of halal food is similar (Halal or Haram?, 2014).
Consider the following cases reported in the media: The HFA approves KFC’s halal (Halal or Haram?, 2014). KFC uses machines to slaughter animals and stuns its chickens; the only similarity to the Islamic method is the presence of a Muslim to pronounce Allah’s name.
Halal meat from an HFA-approved supplier contains pork traces—another example of the HFA’s poor standards. Pork in halal prison food (Halal or Haram?, 2014). Another HFA-certified food producer, McColgans Quality Foods Ltd (Ireland) (Halal or Haram?, 2014), was found to have traces of pork in halal meat.
Are you happy that your ‘halal’ food comes from a non-Muslim source? No way. Among the HFA-approved slaughterhouses are the following (Halal or Haram?, 2014):
• Crown Chicken (non-Muslim)
• Dunbia (non-Muslim)
• Frank Bird Poultry (non-Muslim)
• Hilton Food Group (non-Muslim)
• Jack Brand Ltd (non-Muslim)
• H R Jasper & Son (non-Muslim)
• Randall Parker Foods (non-Muslim)
• Romford Halal Meat (non-Muslim)
• RWM Dorset Ltd (non-Muslim)
• Salisbury Poultry (non-Muslim)
• Sandwell Foods (non-Muslim)
• TC Meats Ltd (non-Muslim)
• Welsh Country Foods Ltd (non-Muslim)
Muslims always doubt KFC and Nandos (Halal or Haram?, 2014), which are not certified by HMC or HFA – the Ummah is split and uncertain. Not good and points to ‘doubtful’ methods being used. It is also odd that doubts always arise with HFA-approved businesses.
Here is a link to Exposing the HFA for more information on the HFA’s owners. The HFA’s starting point has been to verify that the large companies’ methods are acceptable, leaving the HFA open to making exceptions. Instead, the HFA should start with the Islamic law ruling and hold all food companies to this standard, not making exceptions for companies (unless there are allowances explicitly stated in shariah).
Can you afford to eat food supplied by non-Muslims, whose standards do not meet ours? Nandos gets its chicken from non-Muslim Freemans of Newent. Freemans of Newent supplies stunned chicken to Nandos (Halal or Haram?, 2014).
The Guardian article explains the Freemans’ method and shows that slaughtering the traditional Islamic way would be costly for suppliers like Freemans. According to this article, HMC inspected Freemans (Halal or Haram?, 2014) of Newent and declared their meat haram.
Conclusion
Some KFC restaurants are Halal-certified, and the poultry is stunned and hand-slaughtered. HMC personnel are at every abattoir where certified meat is produced. It is a registered charity and not-for-profit.
Muslims want to know and trust that their food is halal (The UK’s two main halal food regulatory bodies, HMC and HFA, provide information on slaughtering animals and producing halal foods). The HFA is the preferred regulator for non-Muslim food companies seeking approval, allowing stunning and machine slaughter, even though stunning is frowned upon in shariah.
The HFA should start with the Islamic law ruling and hold all food companies to this standard, not make exceptions for companies (unless there are allowances explicitly stated in shariah).
References
Halal or Haram? (2014) HFA vs HMC [Online]. Available at https://isithalalorharam.com/hfa-vs-hmc/?fbclid=IwAR1_fcrpveLPNwwc4eBdfiVGUAEeVUmYF8JUZU3EQU_Gr7Sd2p_JlupZvxg (Accessed 17 April 2022).
Shoaib, H. (2018) HMC response to KFC & stunning [Online]. Available at https://halalhmc.org/news/hmc-response-to-kfc-stunning/?fbclid=IwAR2vpORftgYVmVJngpbxMMxGIIj3KWqXH00w3aAxcqKbWd-R65nwOyiu9e0 (Accessed 17 April 2022)
Updated: 17/02/2024
