Label ALL meat as Religiously Slaughtered or Non-Religiously Slaughtered

We want the Government to create a law requiring all meat to have a label, such as a simple RS (Religiously Slaughtered) or NRS (Not religiously slaughtered), that states whether it has been religiously slaughtered or not.

We think that labelling meat as ‘stunned’ or ‘not stunned’ is not adequate because when meat has been subject to a ‘recoverable stun’, the throat is slit and the animal may wake up in excruciating pain to hear the religious blessing, unable to vocalise its distress.

I am concerned that religiously slaughtered meat, using inhumane methods, is entering the food chain and is being sold to people who may object to the method of slaughter, without it being labelled.

The government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.

The first national legislative requirement for stunning before slaughter in England and Wales was the Slaughter of Animals Act 1933. The Act also introduced an exception from the requirement to stun when animals are slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, for the food of Muslims and Jews. A significant proportion of halal meat comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter.

There are detailed protections in legislation to ensure that animals are spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering when being slaughtered. Animals are stunned to make them unconscious and insensible to pain and slaughtermen are required to check that animals do not present any signs of consciousness in the period between being stunned and death.

Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are present in all approved slaughterhouses to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements. When the FSA identifies breaches, they are fully investigated, and appropriate and proportionate action is taken to protect animal welfare.

There are no regulations that require the labelling of meat from animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites. However, where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. It is for religious authorities to decide if meat is halal or kosher. The Government has no plans to introduce requirements for meat to be labelled according to whether it comes from an animal which has been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites.

On food labelling more generally, we recognise that while most consumers care about how their food is produced, the lack of consistency in food labelling makes it difficult for consumers to understand the animal welfare standards of their food and make informed purchasing decisions.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how their food was produced. To support this, we will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs