Supermarkets and restaurants sell halal meat so their end products can be eaten by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The practice has emerged after Pizza Express made headlines for serving halal-prepared chicken in all of its restaurants and only made clear in the small print on the company’s website.
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S are all reported to sell halal meat.
Chains including Domino's, GBK, Nando's, KFC, Ask and Slug & Lettuce use halal meat in some dishes, mainly chicken.
Only Subway and KFC overtly label halal meat products on their menus.
Other chains directed us towards their websites where information was included but hard to find. Subway has removed ham and bacon from almost 200 fast food outlets and switched to halal alternatives in an attempt to woo Muslim customers.
In conventional slaughterhouses, cows, sheep and chicken are stunned, usually with an electric shock, to ensure they are unconscious before their throats are cut.
This minimises suffering but in most Muslim countries halal animals are not stunned.
This technique has been condemned as cruel by experts on the Farm Animal Welfare Council, the Humane Slaughter Association and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe. Muslim religious leaders have responded to these concerns by allowing halal animals to be stunned before they are killed.
The British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, claims there is no need to label meat such as New Zealand lamb as halal if it comes from animals that are pre-stunned.
Andrew Opie, its director of food, said: 'As the overwhelming majority of meat sold in UK supermarkets is own brand and from animals that have been stunned prior to slaughter we do not see the requirement to separately label meat based on the method of slaughter.
'However, if the Government believes there is a need for more information on meat for those animals that have not been pre-stunned we would be happy to have further discussion in the context of animal welfare.'
But Peter Stevenson, of Compassion in World Farming, said: 'We don't believe that religious freedom should extend to the point of causing unnecessary suffering.
'If you are going to have an exemption to normal rules for religious slaughter, then we believe that meat should be labelled when it gets into the wider food chain.'
The British Veterinary Association and the RSPCA want a new labelling system to spell out whether an animal has been stunned or not.
They have set up an ePetition on the Government's website in the hope of getting 100,000 signatures to ensure a debate in Parliament.
SAINSBURY'S.
"The abattoirs that supply us with meat are all licensed by the Muslim Authorities and a prayer is said when the animals are killed."
"Our meat is not labelled Halal despite being approved by the Halal food Authority as we have never requested in our specifications that Halal practices be followed. It would therefore be misleading to label our meat Halal."
"The abattoirs that supply us with meat are all licensed by the Muslim Authorities and a prayer is said when the animals are killed."
"Our meat is not labelled Halal despite being approved by the Halal food Authority as we have never requested in our specifications that Halal practices be followed. It would therefore be misleading to label our meat Halal."
TESCO.
"All of our New Zealand Lamb is Halal slaughtered, as is some of our UK Lamb and Chicken. To add further labelling requirements would add unnecessary costs to the consumer"
"All of our New Zealand Lamb is Halal slaughtered, as is some of our UK Lamb and Chicken. To add further labelling requirements would add unnecessary costs to the consumer"
ASDA
"It is fair to say, that most Lamb is Halal and around half the Chicken is Halal. Our labelling in all areas of our stores meets our legal obligations, but we are not legally obliged to label our Halal meat as Halal."
"It is fair to say, that most Lamb is Halal and around half the Chicken is Halal. Our labelling in all areas of our stores meets our legal obligations, but we are not legally obliged to label our Halal meat as Halal."
THE CO-OP GROUP/SOMERFIELD
"All our New Zealand Lamb is Halal but is not labelled as such. It is not possible to be sure that all other meat not labelled Halal is not in fact Halal."
"All our New Zealand Lamb is Halal but is not labelled as such. It is not possible to be sure that all other meat not labelled Halal is not in fact Halal."
WAITROSE
"The Muslim prayer said at the point of slaughter applies to all of our Lamb"
"The Muslim prayer said at the point of slaughter applies to all of our Lamb"
MARKS & SPENCER
"With the exception of New Zealand meat which is all Halal, none of our other meat or poultry is slaughtered in accordance to any ritual practices. We understand that to some of our customers, there may be a moral objection to Halal New Zealand Lamb so we are able to offer UK sourced Lamb as an alternative"
"The country of origin of all M&S meat is clearly labelled on the packaging. M&S UK meat is non Halal."
"With the exception of New Zealand meat which is all Halal, none of our other meat or poultry is slaughtered in accordance to any ritual practices. We understand that to some of our customers, there may be a moral objection to Halal New Zealand Lamb so we are able to offer UK sourced Lamb as an alternative"
"The country of origin of all M&S meat is clearly labelled on the packaging. M&S UK meat is non Halal."
MORRISONS
"We only sell 100% British fresh Beef, Lamb and Poultry, non of it is HALAL. The vast majority of our fresh Beef and Lamb is processed at our own abattoirs in Britain. Our own labelled Beef and poultry is all UK slaughtered and not Halal."
"Our own labelled frozen Lamb is currently sourced from New Zealand and is Halal. The interest in this subject has resulted in us reviewing our labelling policy"
"All of our meat from the UK as stated is definitely not Halal."
"We only sell 100% British fresh Beef, Lamb and Poultry, non of it is HALAL. The vast majority of our fresh Beef and Lamb is processed at our own abattoirs in Britain. Our own labelled Beef and poultry is all UK slaughtered and not Halal."
"Our own labelled frozen Lamb is currently sourced from New Zealand and is Halal. The interest in this subject has resulted in us reviewing our labelling policy"
"All of our meat from the UK as stated is definitely not Halal."
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