Supermarkets were facing a backlash last night after claiming it was ‘unnecessary’ to spell out on labels whether meat comes from animals killed by religious slaughter.
Religious groups from all faiths, vets and animal welfare groups joined calls for new labels to identify halal or kosher meat.
But retailers claimed that shoppers do not care...And you might have been right, they didn't until the issue was raised. What do you think now?
...and even argued that there is not enough room on packs for new labels.Heh! Nice try.
Did it work with all those rules they brought in for fat/salt/sugar content? No? Well, why do you think it'll work with this?
David Cameron believes there is no need to change the law.Game over, man, GAME OVER!
Food labeling is handled by the EU, so all this waffle is entirely moot.
ReplyDeleteBest comment I saw somewhere was "I don't care if the animal was slaughtered brutally, but I do if someone was singing a nursery rhyme at the time"
ReplyDeleteEnjoying the communards over on the Guardian's Comment is Free contorting themselves into ever tighter knots over this.
ReplyDeleteThey'd love to support the muslims outright but the jews do it too so it's very troubling to a hard of thinking leftie.
Well, their people are clearly labelled, so why not their meat?
ReplyDeleteC'mon Julia.
ReplyDeleteHow can we expect supermarkets to label to which Sky Fairy meat has been blessed, when they were incapable of labelling correctly the species of meat in the pack?
Anon 13:24 is absolutely right - this is exclusively an EU competence.
ReplyDeleteThus Philip Davies MP et al are talking pure cockwaffle.
"Food labeling is handled by the EU, so all this waffle is entirely moot."
ReplyDeleteAnd with Denmark banning halal slaughter altogether...
"Enjoying the communards over on the Guardian's Comment is Free contorting themselves into ever tighter knots over this."
It must be the first time in remembered history that a people's cry "We want to know what Big Business is putting in our food!" was met by the progressives with 'Shut up! SHUT UP!'...
Whether or not food labeling is an EU competence, or a UK one, is irrelevant. There is nothing to stop Morrison's et al. adding a "may contain Halal" sticker to their meat packaging. That would then allow consumers to exercise their discretion as to whether or not they care.
ReplyDeleteI do care about pre-stunning, and I do care that meat is routinely dedicated to Allah - I would prefer it was not dedicated at all, since this should be a choice of the (literal) consumer.
@Jonathan
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right - there is nothing stopping the large companies adding this information to the packaging.
But they won't.
Morrisons et al, our large companies, will not print this information on the labels because they know it will seriously damage sales. Profit rules. Companies lobby the EU with very large amounts of money to NOT be forced to show this.
We do not get any of your much-desired "choice".
The UK "Government" is helpless, because this is EU regulated. By our real masters.
It's just Westminster don't get their share of the trinkets.
"There is nothing to stop Morrison's et al. adding a "may contain Halal" sticker to their meat packaging."
ReplyDeleteJust so. Their move...