Islam and MaccaDees?

[AnyDream]

Hi, please forgive my ignorance (*blushes*) but we were on a road trip today and did our usual Maccas stop (roadtrips only in my house!) And while we were there a large Muslim family turned up for some greasy sustenance and a play on the equipment. Anyway it led me to wonder what's to eat that's ok in places like this, as I have only a superficial understanding of halal (ritually slaughtered) meat. I've often wondered the same thing at TAFE, etc when the student union puts on a BBQ...do you avoid meats that are not halal altogether or can you bend the rules? Is a student sausage sizzle a really culturally insensitive thing to do?

[rurumummy]

Hi marydean,

In Islam muslims are only allowed to eat meat that has been slaughtered in the halal way,The only exception is if you dont have any other means of sustenance and you only have non halal meat then you would say Bismillah which means in the name of Allah and eat the non halal meat.
All seafood is halal in islam.
Any in my opinion i dont think that a student sausage sizzle is culturally insensitive although since halal meat is so widely available these days it would be nice and considerate for the muslims students

As for Maccas i only eat from the Halal Maccas and there are three i know of in Sydney(yay)
When i was living in melbourne i had to do without because there were no halal Maccas and i have chosen to observe my religion fully

[{sarah}]

Marydean the TAFE may actually be buying Halal sausages. All of the sausages we sell (I work for a food distributor) are Halal and they are very easy to get.

[Trillian]

it's surprising just how much food is halal - even the icecream cones I brought the other week are, although I don't know why wafer cones need to specify being halal or not (or maybe I'm best not knowing LOL). Anyway, I would think that sometimes, like in any religion, that there are those who don't abide by every religious 'rule' and don't have a problem with eating meat that isn't halal or kosher etc. I know Catholics that eat meat on Fridays and still consider themselves to be 'good' Catholics, so maybe this is similar in concept?

PS, glad you got home OK

[feeb]

There is a few halal maccas in melbourne. 1 is in st albans and cant remmeber where other are (discovered this tonight actually as brothers gf is a manger and just strted at this store) and was telling us that all meat is halal and peopel can still get bacon in burgers put is cooked in microwave and not on grill so that grill stays ok for halal meats.

[Pandora]

I think there is one in flemington or kensington, I know the KFC have different options there.

[AnyDream]

Ok, halal Maccas, that makes sense in some areas...re cooking bacon elsewhere that also makes sense although as a customer you'd just have to trust that it really was halal and someone else wasn't doing the wrong thing....but in theory you could rock up and have a Mcfishy burger and that would be ok? Not sure our TAFE has really thought about halal with the BBQs, however there is other food available nearby, it's just a bit exclusive - sometimes they do stuffed mushies for the vegos.

[{sarah}]

Wow I didn't know there were any Halal McDonalds, that's pretty cool

The thing that bothers me is that some people don't care. A lot of the schools we deliver to are in areas with a large Muslim population, so the schools buy a lot of Halal products. I've had a few ask if something is Halal & if I have to check they'll say "nah don't worry, they'll never know" It's just disgraceful. You wouldn't serve meat to a vegetarian & not tell them so why would you do that.

(oops off my soap box now )

[*charmalea*]

omg sarah , that is very rude of those people to say that

[Heaven]

I know, it's sad.
I don't eat pork or anything and family have tried to 'sneak it in' meals before saying what I don't know won't hurt me!! Well that's not the point!! So rude.

[Phteven]

We've got a subway with halal chicken near us and also there is halal red rooster not far away (although the chips have lard on them so they're not halal or vege). There's also a halal KFc nearby too - they were on ACA a while ago because some woman was throwing a hissy fit because she ordered a burger and couldn't have bacon on it - she was carrying on about how she wouldn't mind if they were upfront about it which was kind of odd because they have a giant red banner out the front saying "No Bacon Available". ACA ignored that too. It was a pretty funny report - 'they're selling halal meat and you mightn't know!!!' Oh the horror...
AFAIK most oportos are halal because they use baida chicken and so are the nandos.

[Indadhanu]

That's really disgraceful Sarah! I can't believe some people would do that! My sis has been served things that have meat in them or cooked with meat (she's a vegetarian, allergic to animal fat) even after she specifically asks some people just don't care and only think of themselves!

I didn't know there were halal Maccas... thats pretty cool! Would they have to change a lot to be able to say they offered halal (I don't really know much about halal as you can probably tell... what I mean is, is halal more than just meat that is considerd lawful?)?

ETA: Mmmmm, oporto... Lol, sorry, its one of my cravings

Oh another ETA: I didn't mean 'just meat that is considered lawful' to sound as bad as it came out! I just meant to ask if there is more to it like storage and handling and cooking procedures as well...?

[Astrid]

Year ago we were caught out by there being no bacon at a KFC, there were no signs and we were pretty upset about it. If there had been signs we would have either accepted it or moved onto another one.

Personally I do prefer to know in advance if the meat provided is halal as I prefer not to eat it if there is a choice. As with vegetarianism, not eating pork etc I believe there should be choice at most food suppliers or if there is no choice as in a halal Maccas then it should be clearly signed.

BTW it the Brunswick East Macca's that is halal, not the Flemington one.

[{sarah}]

Wow I didn't know Oportos was Baiada, there ya go. KFC uses Inghams & about 80% of their products are Halal too.

Astrid, out of curiosity, why would you want to know if the meat you are eating is Halal?

[Astrid]

Astrid, out of curiosity, why would you want to know if the meat you are eating is Halal?

Basically not my religion, I do not agree with the slaughter process. If I can avoid it I can, but I do understand that if I eat at a Turkish restaurant on Sydney Rd that the meat will be Halal then I accept it. With most food I can find out what ingredients are in the product, or if it is organic, free range, free trade, GM free etc, These are seen as acceptable to ask about and make decisions about, I see Halal as being in the same category (well for me & DH anyway).

[{sarah}]

Cool, that's fair enough And good point about the organic, free range etc info I agree that it should be known.

[Heaven]

Basically not my religion, I do not agree with the slaughter process.

Do you mean because when the animal is killed they recite a prayer (or something, I don't really know), or you don't agree with how the animal is killed, like you belive it's inhumane??
Sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't want I'm just interested! Not trying to cause an argument or change your mind or anything, lol.

[Phteven]

FWIW the halal slaughter process (despite the hysterical claims of dodgy current affairs shows) is as humane as any other slaughter process, in fact to be certified as halal the slaughter must be humane and the surroundings clean. Death has to be swift and complete and the animal has to be dead before any further processing can take place. In non-halal abbatoirs that use things like the bolt or electrical shock to cause death sometimes there are errors and animals take ages to die. Not only that but in chicken slaughter it is possible for a chicken that lifts its head at the wrong time to go through the plucking and gutting process still alive which franky turns my stomach.
In Islam we believe that animals have the right to respect and a cruelty free life and death - a slaughterer is not even meant to show the animal their knife before they kill it so that the animal is not scared.

FWIW in Australia there are regulations regarding humane practice that all slaughter houses are meant to adhere to. Halal slaughtering usually involves stunning the animal and then cutting it's throat while it is unconscious.