Not All Foods Are Halal Certified

Many people see the term Halal and wonder exactly what it means. It is an Arabic word and it simply means that a particular food is permissible to eat. To gain halal certification, strict standards have to have taken place throughout an animal’s entire life and death. Not all foods can achieve halal certification. Here’s a little more information about it.

What Happens During Slaughter

The slaughter of an animal is a pretty intricate process. No other animals can be present and Allah’s name has to be used during a prayer before the slaughter. The person performing the slaughter must be a Muslim and they have to use a sharp instrument to slit the animal’s throat as no machines can be used. Slitting of the throat and cutting the artery, jugular and trachea, will allow the animal to die as quickly as possible. The animal can’t be unconscious when this is occurring. They are supposed to be stunned beforehand. After the animal has been killed they must be hung upside down so that all of the blood can drain out of an animal. In order for a food to have Halal certification, no blood can be in it.

Meat That Can’t Be Eaten

If this process has not been followed, the meat will not be eligible for halal certification. The animal can’t have died in the wild. It also can’t have been beaten or harmed in another way. It must have been treated well throughout its entire life. It should have eaten only a vegetarian diet and not been fed items that contain animal byproducts. Farm raised fish can’t be considered halal foods. This is because they could have been given foods that contained byproducts. Therefore, only wild caught fish can be certified as halal foods. Pork can never be considered halal food, under any circumstances. Pork is considered unclean and is not suitable for human consumption according to Islamic law. Meat from the hindquarters of an animal can’t be considered a halal food either.

As you can see, strict standards have to be followed in order for a food to gain halal certification. If even one of these standards has not been followed, then a food can’t gain this certification. The goal is for animals to be treated humanely at all times. Even though many of them are raised with the purpose of being slaughtered, they can still live a good life before this happens. Even when they are being killed, it must be done in an ethical way. They can’t suffer and the entire process has to be done quickly. Not all farmers are willing to go through all this for the animals that they are raising. This is why not all foods are eligible for halal certification. If you are interested in eating only halal certified meats and poultry, you must only eat at restaurants that serve halal certified foods or make sure that you look for the halal certification label that will be located on the food that you plan on cooking and consuming. For more enquiries, you can go to Halalxpert to get free advice or consultation.