Plant Suspended, Pending Allegations of Cruelty
The Food Standards Agency has suspended Simply Halal, a red meat plant following allegations of animal cruelty reported by the Sunday Mirror using undercover recordings. The publicly available video footage is truly shocking and horrific.
Animal cruelty of any form cannot be tolerated and is against Halal integrity. Simply Halal is a BRC accredited plant, under the inspection and supervision of two meat inspectors and a vet appointed by the Food Standards Agency [1]. The Food Standards Agency is responsible for meat inspection duties in approved meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales. It is the role of the Agency to help ensure that the meat industry safeguards the health of the public, and the health and welfare of animals at slaughter. Simply Halal employs its own trained slaughtermen, hence we are shocked that these events have occurred.
Nadeem Adam at HMC said; “Unfortunately, some people will take this opportunity to attack halal. This is not about halal or non-halal, this is about animal cruelty and it is totally unacceptable. Clearly lessons will need to be learned and additional safeguards deployed.”
HMC has also launched a full internal investigation.
Statement Ends
For further enquiries please contact Nadeem Adam
[1] https://www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/approved-premises-official-controls
