The Business of Halal

The websites have been talking about the policy of Quick, a fast-food chain comparable to McDonald's. The chain is now advertising that the meat they serve in several of their restaurants is certified halal. Halal foods are nothing new in France (and they are more and more evident here too). There have been halal butchers, halal sections of supermarkets, entire halal markets, and halal restaurants for a long time. The websites have reported that halal is becoming a major industry objective - not surprising considering the large and growing Muslim population. Did someone think it could be otherwise? Novopress, among many other sites, has been following the story. Here is a condensation of an article dated December 15:

The restaurant chain Quick offers halal hamburgers in eight French cities: Toulouse, Marseilles (two establishments), Roubaix, Villeurbanne, Argenteuil, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Buchelay. A plethora of small restaurants were already imposing meals prepared with meat certified edible for Muslims. But now, it is an international company - the leading "fast-food" group in Belgium and Luxembourg and the second most important group in France, with extensions in Algeria, Russia, Catalonia, etc...

Quick's initiative, that reinforces communitarianism and Islam in France, is being closely watched by its American rival McDonald's. It has also aroused numerous protests from animal activists. In order for the meat to be suitable for Muslims the animal must have its throat slit while awake, with its head turned towards Mecca by a certified sacrificer. One of our readers wrote to Valérie Raynal, a top manager of the Quick corporation: "In the name of a religion we are experiencing a return to barbarity," he deplores (...)

Valérie Raynal had already let it be known that those who did not wish to eat halal had only to go somewhere else. In an e-mail addressed to WLS (Web Television Libre) she points out that halal is only offered in certain branches of Quick:

"On November 30 we decided to test a line of products using halal meat in one of our branches in Villeurbanne. This in no way constitutes an obligation for our customers because we have 10 Quick restaurants in the environs of Lyons and 33 in the whole Rhône-Alpes region that offer classic menus. (...) One last detail: the halal meats on the menus of the test restaurant were certified by different mosques according to the region where the slaughterhouse was located."

Novopress closes with two observations: that the mosques receive payment for this, and that Quick, though originally Belgian, was acquired in 2007 by CDC Capital Investment, an extension of the French Caisse de dépôts et consignations (the Bank for Official Deposits), an investment bank created in 1816 following a financial crisis and "dedicated to the general interest and to economic development". In other words, a bank emanating from the French State, and under the control of Parliament, even though its investments may be in private companies.

I assume that when the French State acquires a private business that business must follow the official policies of the State. The decision to go halal, however, may have been dictated by the general trend to please the Muslim clientele. Just speculating.

And what about McDonald's? I have not had time to do research, but I did come up with this passage from a longer letter from McDonald's customer service:

(...) Additionally, we do have a restaurant located in Dearborn, Michigan were they have begun to offer halal foods. The first item that was offered was the "halal nuggets". We also offer the Filet-O-Fish sandwich which is considered an "halal" item as well. Although the "halal nuggets" are not currently a national menu item, you may wish to speak directly with your local McDonald's and voice your concerns for additional items that are "halal".

As many of you know, Dearborn has a very large Muslim population.

This is from Wikipedia:

While the introduction of Halal meats in local U.S. based restaurants is still ongoing, in early 2004 for the first time in the United States Halal meats began to be offered in local retail chain grocery stores, in particular H.E.B.Grocery. Tex-Med Beef Co. based in Houston, Texas was the first Halal meat/poultry distribution company to offer Halal meats in the United States at the retail store level.

In 2008 and 2009 twelve stores in the Mary Brown's chain in Ontario and Alberta become 100% Halal.


Another article at Novopress deals with the letter written by Brigitte Bardot to Jacques-Edouard Charret, CEO of Quick:

Once again, Brigitte Bardot is on a crusade for the animals. And against the ritual slaughter of animals to make the meat "halal". In this letter posted yesterday (December 21), she asks the head of Quick to stop selling such products. Halal meat is made with "cattle that are bled when they are still alive and left to agonize for long and painful minutes." She asks him not to be an "accomplice" in this veritable barbarity.

Here is an extended excerpt from the letter:

"(...) If I've been fighting so hard and so long to impose a stunning of the animals before they are bled, it is because the ritual slaughter (halal and kosher) is a horror for the animals who are slaughtered while completely conscious and suffering. A recent report (...) shows that during a slaughter the consciousness of the cattle, after bleeding, can go on for up to... 14 minutes!

This excessively long period of time during which the animal, its throat slit, remains conscious and sensitive to pain can also be explained by the fact that the bleeding spares the spinal cord, the arteries and the vertebral veins remain intact and continue to feed the brain. (...)

This cruelty is even more intolerable since it is not justified by any sacred text, as confirmed to me by the grand Mufti of the Paris Mosque.

For the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, "slaughtering animals without first stunning them is unacceptable in all circumstances." This is also the opinion of the French people, 72% of whom disapprove of slaughter without first stunning."

Those interested in kosher slaughter of animals can consult articles here and here.

There was a recent scandal involving the practices at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa. The scandal was unearthed by PETA, itself a controversial organization. Those interested can click here.

For more on halal consult the Wikipedia article linked above. You will learn that the global halal industry is worth $580 billion.

Note: I cannot enter into a debate on the similarities or differences between halal and kosher. For me, the problem is not there. The problem is that halal is symbolic of the Islamic presence and the growing Islamic influence. Kosher for me is not a problem, except insofar as there are abuses that must be addressed. Judaism condemns cruelty to animals. But this does not mean there aren't abuses. Bardot condemns both kosher and halal because they do not stun the animal first (kosher requires that a nerve in the neck be severed, cutting off all sensation, before the animal is bled). Whether it is better to stun the animal or sever the nerve I cannot say. Animals are terrified of the slaughter whether they are stunned first or sliced in the neck. It's a horrible thing, but humanity has to have food. Farmers who love their animals take care to make the end as painless as possible, but it is never painless. As far as I know, Muslims, whenever possible, practice extremely cruel methods of slaughter as described above. Sometimes they do conform to French law, sometimes they don't. I suspect that when the imams say that cruelty is not mandated by the Koran, they are pretending to be naive, because they know that activists like Bardot will not, in the end, succeed so long as the number of Muslims continues to grow.

The above is all I know on this topic. Islam's presence is the problem, not kosher methods of slaughter. Halal, like the burqua, the mosques and the minarets, is a symbol of that presence.