The slaughter of animals for the Halal market is both ethically and economically significant. There are animal welfare and spiritual requirements that must be met for meat to be considered fit for Muslim consumption. These requirements are enshrined in Islamic law, known commonly as the Shariah law, derived from commandments in the Holy Quran and the Hadith (teachings or traditions of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed-Peace Be Upon Him). Islamic jurists widely interpret the Shariah law differently, and this has led to debate as to whether pre-slaughter stunning is acceptable for Halal slaughter. This paper reviews how these laws are interpreted and implemented and reviews the methods of stunning accepted by proponents of Halal stunning. It also describes why some proponents of Halal stunning do not accept irreversible stunning methods for producing Halal beef within the EU, a situation 2 which has meant that thousands of Halal cattle are slaughtered without any form of stunning.

Since the discovery of horsemeat in some processed beef products in early 2013, there has been increased speciation testing of products of meat origin within the EU. This led to the detection of porcine DNA and subsequently pork meat in some processed BHalalp roducts in the UK. This situation caused a great deal of panic and distress among the UK Muslim population, as the consumption of pork or its derivatives is strictly forbidden in Islam.This paper considers what makes meat Halal and discusses existing gaps in Halal certification and the regulation of Halal meat that potentially expose the Halal market to fraudulent activity.

The fleece of sheep becomes soiled primarily on the abdomen and on the legs. A five-category scoring scale for soiling of the fleece was defined, with score 1 being clean and dry and score 5 being wet and heavily soiled with faecal material. Twenty sheep with each fleece score were slaughtered and dressed on a commercial 'inverted' slaughter line. Swab samples were taken from the shoulder and the abdomen of the carcases immediately after skinning, and total viable counts and the numbers of Enterobacteriaceae were determined. The condition of the fleece significantly affected the microbial load on these parts of the dressed carcase, with the carcases derived from sheep with increasingly dirty fleeces carrying up to 1000 times more microorganisms, and a higher proportion of the carcases being contaminated with Enterobacteriaceae. Modifications to the dressing procedure were made to try to reduce carcase contamination at the shoulder. The application of bulldog clips to prevent direct contact between the fleece and the underlying muscles resulted in higher counts on carcases with a fleece score of 3, probably owing to contamination from the hands of the slaughterman and the problems with ensuring that the clips were in place before contamination had occurred. Delaying the skinning of the shoulder until later in the pelt removal process achieved worthwhile reductions in the contamination of the shoulder of carcases with a fleece score of 4, although the total viable counts were still higher than carcases with a score of 3.

The continuous expansion of the global halal meat market has attracted interest from governments, food business operators and the animal and meat science research fraternity. Despite this growing trend, and the enormous economic benefits associated with it, there is a lack of clarity regarding what is ‘authentic’ halal. Many Islamic jurists are reluctant to approve animal slaughter methods that were not practiced at the time of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed. Others insist that since Islam holds animal welfare in high regard, any modern method of slaughter that is shown to improve animal welfare without compromising on the basic requirements of halal slaughter can be approved for halal production. This paper highlights the aspects of modern slaughter that continues to divide scholarly opinion among Islamic jurists. It also examines the arguments put forward by opponents and proponents regarding the acceptability of modern slaughter techniques for halal slaughter.

A survey was conducted at five UK abattoirs to trace the source of dirty beef cattle and identify factors in the production chain that contributed to their dirtiness. The Meat Hygiene Service Clean Livestock score categories were used and the animals' histories were traced back to their farm of origin. Comprehensive information was collected relating to the farm, transport and lairage phases for 675 cattle from 85 batches. The mean score of the animals on arrival at the abattoir was 1.57, with 2.8 per cent in categories 3 and 4, and none in category 5. Regression analysis, blocking the data by farm of origin, revealed that age, feed type, coat length, clipping, journey distance and time, and abattoir were the six principal factors that affected the scores. Cattle under 20 months of age were cleaner than older cattle. Dry diets resulted in lower scores than wet diets. 'Shorthair' cattle were cleaner than 'medium' or 'longhair' cattle, and cattle which had been clipped were cleaner than unclipped animals. The cattle which had travelled over 150 miles (15 per cent) were dirtier than the others. Within each abattoir there were variations in score between 1 and 4, and the mean scores of the five abattoirs ranged from 1.19 to 1.76. A significant part of this variation could only be accounted for by unmeasured variables such as abattoir management practice, assessors' categorisations and climate.