A bill introduced to the UK Parliament on Tuesday, February 24th, will, if voted into law, make it compulsory for kosher and halal meat to be labelled as such. Its backer, Conservative MP Esther McVey, said that “individuals concerned about animal welfare would want to know if an animal had been stunned prior to slaughter.”
Separately, the country’s largest animal rights charity, the RSPCA, is campaigning to ban non-stun slaughter, saying that the exemption for religious purposes “results in a distressing and painful death for the animal.” Critics also claim lower voltage stuns are often employed to ensure the animal is not dead before its throat is cut.
Pressure is increasing following the Mail’s publication on Thursday of an article focusing on halal slaughter practices, pointing in particular to footage previously captured secretly inside a Warwickshire abattoir revealing “shocking cruelty to animals.” The piece says that roughly 20% of the farm animals slaughtered in 2025 were killed by halal methods, despite the Muslim population being nearer to 7%, noting:
This has raised concerns that meat from Muslim slaughterhouses is slipping into the general food chain without people knowing. There are also claims that halal meat is being sold in supermarkets without adequate labelling as to the method of slaughter.
Some of Britain’s fast food chains (including Subway and KFC) operate hundreds of stores that are “fully halal-certified.”
A growing number of schools are also serving halal (or vegetarian) only lunches, despite complaints from parents. As long ago as 2010, Muslim spokesmen stressed amid a debate on food options at schools that “those who do not wish to consume halal should similarly be afforded the freedom and choice.” The conversation appears to have barely moved forward.
Food reporters say this shift towards halal is taking place elsewhere in Europe, too. Some schools in Germany, for example, have raised the hackles of parents by only serving halal meat. Introduced as a step toward inclusivity, the policy has instead fueled accusations of cultural bias.
MPs voted to reject mandatory labelling in 2014.
