Remember The Word, "HALAL"

Costco's Halal Muslim Meat In Supermarkets (Craigslist post)

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Passing this along for your knowledge and consideration:"The other day I wrote about Costco stocking their meat counters with “Halal” meat."
So yesterday I shopped for groceries at my local Walmart. As usual, I bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts, but this time I checked to make sure the meat was not labeled “Halal”. Here’s why.
Halal is the Islamic term that basically means the meat is lawful to eat for a devout Muslim. What makes it lawful or acceptable is that the meat has been processed in a very specific way. Unlike kosher food, where the physical processing of the meat is the focus, for Islam it is the spiritual component that makes the meat lawful.
For lawful (halal) meat in Islam, the animal must be killed while the butcher faces Mecca , and either the butcher cries “Allah Akbar” or a tape plays the words over a loud speaker.
Ann Barnhardt, is a cattle commodities broker, has more about “Halal."
NEVER buy meat that is marked as “Halal”.I am in the cattle business, and believe me when I tell you that Halal kill plants are CONSTANTLY being cited and shut down by the USDA for horrific, infractions. Most of these plants are in Michigan and upstate New York .
One of the things that halal kill plants are notorious for is putting already-dead animals in the human consumption line. They will go pick up a dead cow off of a farm or ranch and instead of putting it in their rendering tank where the resulting “tankage” is worth pennies on the dollar as pet food or industrial products, they will shackle the dead animal on the normal kill line and process it as human food which is the highest-dollar product.Since Islam teaches taqiyyah (religious dissimulation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissimulation> ,[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya#cite_note-Momen-0> is a practice emphasized in Shi'a Islam <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi%27a_Islam> whereby adherents may conceal their religion when they are under threat, persecution <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims> , or compulsion.[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqiyya#cite_note-1> This means a legal dispensation whereby a believing individual can deny his faith or commit otherwise illegal or blasphemous acts while they are under those risks) and no regard for one’s neighbor, this kind of sickening behavior is standard.
Halal kill plants are also notorious for general citations for filth and uncleanliness. I have toured normal cattle slaughter plants, and guys, you could eat off of the floor.
Everything is white and men walk around with water hoses and steam guns constantly keeping everything in a state of spotlessness.
Halal plants are filthy. A lot of Halal meat is also labeled as “organic”.
Again, don’t be fooled into thinking that “halal” means “better”. It isn’t. I would never, ever knowingly eat halal meat purely from a food safety perspective.
One of many articles about “Halal” meats:Neighbors Complain Of Unsanitary Condition At ‘Super Halal Meat’ In QueensNEW YORK (CBS 2) — Unsanitary conditions at a Queens grocery store <http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/05/26/columbia-study-finds-groceries-cheaper-in-nyc/> have neighbors and a state senator crying foul. The store has been cited, but neighbors hope some graphic photos will finally force it to come clean.

Employees at Super Halal Meat in Bellerose said they run a clean ship.

“We have everything is good. You check over there, the refrigerator, everything there is good,” manager Sharafat Dulal told CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez.

But some pictures taken by neighbors paint a much different picture — uncovered meat being delivered in the back of an unrefrigerated pick-up truck, carcasses piled into a shopping cart.

Neighbor Rich Eichler said such practices bring nasty problems to his street.

“Disgusting. Rotten meat. It was not nice,” he said. “I’ve seen rats and I’ve seen other things here.” <http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/21/transit-workers-launch-campaign-to-fight-rats-on-the-rails/>

The Department of Agriculture and Markets said Super Halal, open only a year, was fined for critical deficiencies in July, August and September of this year.

Inspectors found food was not refrigerated at the proper temperature and flies were present near meat processing. New York Sen. Tony Avella is trying to shut the place down.

“You think about the people that are going in there, buying these goods, especially the meat and poultry, thinking that the owners taking care of this meat and poultry. Who knows how many people may have gotten sick,” Avella said.

“The store just don’t belong here in a residential neighborhood,” Eichler said.

A woman who lives one house away from the grocery said she can’t take the rats and garbage so she’s selling her house, but many customers are remaining loyal.

“I don’t see anything problem. I buy,” said one customer.

The Department of Agriculture and Markets will inspect the grocery store again in mid-October. If critical violations are found again, a hearing will be held to revoke their license.

Super Halal Meat owes about $25,000 in fines for health and building code violations.