Halal lamb is meat from a sheep that has undergone a specific type of slaughter according to Muslim religious rules. Certification bodies check that the meat has been handled and slaughtered correctly before it can be certified as halal. The sheep must be alive at the time of slaughter, and the slaughterer must invoke Allah before cutting the trachea, esophagus, and blood vessels in the sheep’s neck. Some halal lamb is stunned before hemorrhaging, which is sanctioned by some religious authorities.
Muslim religious rules specify a certain type of slaughter for animals, which involves cutting the throat and bleeding the animal, and set guidelines for the preparation of that meat. These rules make meat halal or permissible. Halal lamb is the meat of a sheep that has undergone this process. Halal slaughter is sometimes controversial unless stunning of the animal is first used, as in the more common centuries-old method.
For meat to be certified as halal, it must be killed and handled a certain way in the slaughterhouse and storage facility. All these parameters are checked by a certification body in the country of production before the meat can be certified as halal. In the United States, for example, this function is performed by authorities such as the American Halal Foundation (AHF). According to the AHF, a Muslim must slaughter lamb for halal slaughter.
The sheep must also be alive at the time of slaughter. According to the guidelines established by the AHF, before cutting, the slaughterer must invoke Allah by saying “Bismillah”, which means in the name of Allah. A sharp knife, which has not been used for any non-lethal purpose, is then used to cut the trachea, esophagus and blood vessels in the sheep’s neck. This unique cut is similar to Jewish slaughter rules for kosher meat. To be a halal lamb, the sheep must be completely bled.
Proponents of the halal slaughter method argue that the cutting of the neck and the resulting heavy bleeding causes the animal to quickly lose consciousness and therefore no pain occurs. A common method of slaughter in non-Islamic countries uses a slug gun to stun animals before they are bled to death. Opponents of traditional halal slaughter are of the opinion that the bolt stunning method is instantaneous and ensures that the animal does not feel pain when the butcher cuts the blood vessels and that larger animals such as cattle could remain alive for a few minutes after throat slitting.
Not all halal lamb is killed without an extraordinary step. For example, halal New Zealand lamb receives an electrical stun before hemorrhaging. The slaughterer still has to make sure that the animal is alive, but stunning renders it unconscious. This combination of stunning and bleeding is sanctioned by some religious authorities, who say it is not against the practice of halal as long as the animal is alive at the time of the slaughter. After slaughter, halal lamb must not come into contact with non-halal food.
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