Halal meat-why so cheap?

tescofan

Stumbled across a halal butcher around Burley in leeds and they were selling fresh boneless chicken breast at £3.99/kg. that's the same price point as the tesco value frozen chicken breast. It tasted good as well.

How come they manage to sell it so cheap??

I did leave the rest I didn't consume that day in the fridge- bought on Sunday , spoiled on Tuesday. Perhaps not so fresh, is that why?

Edwardia

Halal chicken could be reared here or imported, what makes it halal is the killing ritual without stunning first. Some studies show that stunning an animal using a bolt causes more pain than a quick knife slash. Some that the knife is more painful.

As a student I worked in a chicken factory.. live chickens in one end, Marks & Spencer chicken kievs out the other. The chickens were hung upside down before stunning and then afterwards they were plucked.

If I was a chicken I think I'd prefer a man saying a prayer over me and a quick knife to being hung upside down, stunned and then plucked while still alive.

As most of the blood is drained from a halal chicken that may affect the freshness but personally I'd say it would be likely to make it last longer so may be the chicken wasn't fresh ?

Halal chicken is cheap in Sainsbury's I noticed but I don't think it was British. It is possible to get British even organic halal chicken (or kosher same process just different religion) and online too.

Much of the chicken given to children in schools is halal according to several Daily Mail reports (Google) but new food labelling reforms being discussed at EU will likely make labelling of halal meat (and presumably kosher) mandatory in future.

happy35

i find Halal butchers and indian greengrocers cheap in general and very fresh good quality produce

I am unsure why yours went off quicker as I have found that it is the same as any other chicken in the way it keeps

Charliezoo

I've open wondered this too. Is there any reason why Halal meat tends to look a bit unappetising too? The chicken in my supermarket looks a bit weird and greyish.

Edwardia

Might have something to do with not having blood in it ?

edwardw

funny i should see this topic..
my local Tesco has now got a halal butchers section, there were 4 nice chicken breast slices for £1.99, couldnt work out why it was so cheap??!

dasophster

As a Muslim I can safely say most of the halal meat out there, in particular the chicken-it's factory farmed rubbish. Most halal chickens are battery farmed. That's probably why the meat looks 'greyish'. I've also found some of the halal mince sold in Tesco to be very bloody. I've been poisoned by various brands of halal chicken purchased from Tesco and Sainsbury even though it was cooked properly. It seems all the halal meat sold in supermarkets in this country is pre-stunned and in most cases they play a tape saying 'in the name of Allah', Islamically it's very dubious as to whether this meat is even permitted for Muslims. Factory farming and killing animals on a conveyor belt system isn't allowed. There are some exceptions but my OH and I have decided not to eat meat anymore and we've even become vegan recently.

Edwardia

dasophster going vegan is a big step, admire that !

I started a thread on organic food in supermarkets and because there isn't much the thread widened out to include markets, independent stores, online shopping and farms.

While nosing around the Internet, I came across Willowbrook Organic Farm, a Muslim family-run Soil Association-certified organic farm in Oxfordshire which sells organic halal meat and poultry. https://www.willowbrookorganic.org

Must say that I'm really intrigued by the idea of lamb ham, I bet it's delicious.

dasophster

Is their meat stunned though as I believe to be soil association accredited as organic the law in this country states the animals have to be pre-stunned. Couldn't find anything on their website saying one way or another? Xx

frugal_shopper_2

Willowbrook clearly state on their about us page that they are soil association accredited therefore all halal meat they produce must be stunned prior to slaughter. They would not be accredited if they did not comply with all conditions.
http://www.soilassociation.org/frequentlyaskedquestions/yourquestion/articleid/2329/do-you-certify-halal-or-kosher-meat

Lamb ham is definitely worth trying, it is not often you see it for sale & when you do it's more common to see it as prosciutto but it is always very nice.

mulronie

Halal designation is just about the method of slaughter - the cost of which is totally insignificant compared to other inputs, and won't affect the retail price at all.

If the meat you buy is cheap, it's because it's cheaply produced - simple as that.

I'm sure there is a market somewhere for organic free-range Halal meat, which would be expensive, but what you're buying is intensively farmed.