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Islamic Slaughtering and Meat Quality. Dr. Javaid Aziz Awan National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad . INTRODUCTION. Meat indispensable for sound human health Provides several essential nutrients: Amino acids Mineral elements Vitamins .
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Islamic Slaughtering and Meat Quality Dr. Javaid Aziz Awan National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
INTRODUCTION • Meat indispensable for sound human health • Provides several essential nutrients: • Amino acids • Mineral elements • Vitamins
INTRODUCTION • Meat subject to spoilage by: • Chemical reactions • Biochemical reactions • Biological agents, including bacteria • Responsible for food-borne diseases • Hence meat be produced so as to: • Minimize chemical and biochemical changes • Prevent chances of bacterial contamination and growth to preserve quality
INTRODUCTION • Slaughtering of lawful animals and birds essential to prepare for food purposes • Pre-slaughtermanagement and bleeding methods regulated by religious practices and legislations • Earliest recordedlaws on handling, care and slaughter of animals - Ahadith by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) • These often in response to queries or result of his (pbuh) personal observations • These guidelines laid down over 1430 years • Modern scientific discoveries just testified implications
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • Islamic method of slaughtering - based on two important principles: • Tasmiya • Tazkiyah • Tasmiya refers to invoking name of Allah • means slaughter being done with His permission • This in accordance with several commands given in the Holy Quran
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING “Forbidden to you (for food,) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than God; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a head long fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been partly eaten by a wild animal, unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form) ….…………. (V:4)
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • Tazkiyah means purification - cleaning meat of blood by slaughter • Consumption of blood prohibited in Holy Scriptures: • Holy Bible - Leviticus 3:17 and 7:26 • Holy Quran - VI:146 • All lawful animals and birds contain blood • Blood must be drained as per these commands
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • The Holy Prophet (pbuh) gave comprehensive guidelines on slaughtering of animals in following Hadith: • “Verily Allah, has prescribed proficiency in all things. Thus, if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters”.
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • Process of slaughtering in Islam - consolidated • Slaughterer: • Must be adult Muslim or • One who believes in Holy Scriptures • Should be in possession of his mentalfaculties
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • Lay animal (except camel) on its left flank, preferably facing Kibla • Recite name of Allah (Subhan Allah, or La illaha illila ho, or Allah-o-Akbar or Bismillah Allah-o-Akbar)
ESSENTIALS OF ISLAMIC METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING • Give quick incision using very sharp knife on front of the neck to severe: • Wind pipe • Oesophagus • Carotid arteries • Jugular veins • Prohibited - practice of cutting off part of an animal or removing its skin while still alive
Islam permits consumption of few animals and birds only Strictly prohibited: Pork Blood Carrion Dead animals ………. PRE-SLAUGHTER HANDLING OF ANIMALS - 1. Selection of animals
PRE-SLAUGHTER HANDLING OF ANIMALS - 1. Selection of animals • Animals died natural death • Animals died as result of: • Beating • Strangling • Falling from a height • Goring of horns • Devoured of wild beasts • Animals dedicated to others than Allah • Animals immolated to idols
1. Selection of animals • Also prohibited: • All carnivorous animals • All birds of prey
1. Selection of animals • Permitted animals: • All herbivorous, even-toed, ruminants • Animal meant for slaughtering be: • Healthy • Free from any apparent or hidden impurities/diseases • Must be legally owned.
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • Islampromotes calm and rested animals prior to slaughtering: • Not fatigued • Not excited • Not nervous Slaughtering Instrument • The Holy Prophet (pbuh) advised companions to sharpen knives to their best • Further instructed not to perform this operation in front of slaying animal
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • NotPermitted - Any act that causes neurosis or excitement or other abnormal behavioural changes in animal • Prohibited in Islam - Practice of collective slaughtering - other animals do not view their companion being killed • Research reveals practices inhumane
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • Roughhandling of animals in pre-slaughter period adversely affects meat quality • Result - dark, firm and dry meat (dark cutting meat) • Fatigued or starved animals - Organisms from gut may invade blood stream and eventually muscles
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • Modern methods require animal prior to slaughtering not be subjected to: • Stress • Fatigue • Neurotic • Otherwise excited
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • Proper relaxation before slaughtering: • Helps animal to bleed well • Builds up muscle glycogen essential to lower pH of meat • Increases storage life by reducing chances of microbial growth • Improves taste due to conditioning/ tenderness • Helps delay or reduce fermentation in stomach - may otherwise give meat characteristic smell known as ‘bone taint’.
2. Rest prior to slaughtering • Generally regarded undesirable that animal awaiting slaughter view slaughtering process – cause stress • Animals understress - lead to undue emotional instability, fatigue, anorexia, etc., • Discharge hormones from adrenal glands: • adrenaline from adrenal medulla • 17 hydroxy- and 11-deoxycorticosterones from adrenal cortex • Hormones deplete muscle glycogen and potassium • Deleterious effects on meatquality • To prevent these adverse effects, tranquilizers recommended to calm stocks in transit.
3. Feeding the animals • Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) advised that animals destined for slaughtering be: • well fed • provided with drinking water • Preferable that animals have free access to feed and water prior to slaughtering.
3. Feeding the animals • Two schools of thoughts: • Animal to remain hungry - Fasting • Animal be well fed • Fasting animals - Fasting animals before slaughter recommended in modern abattoirs
3. Feeding the animals Fasting Animals Advantages claimed: • Bleed better • Carcass easier to dress • Carcass has brighter appearance • Reduced bulk of animal’s stomach • Reduced chances of bacterial contamination from gut
3. Feeding the animals • Fasting Animals • Disadvantages of fasted animals: • Loss in weight of carcass and liver • Lower glycogen reserves in muscles • Reduced gustativequality of meat
3. Feeding the animals Well-fed animals: • Glycogen level in muscle reaches higher level • Ensures production of adequate lacticacid • Lowers pH of meat • Such meat has good: • Appearance • Taste • Tenderness • Longer shelf-life
3. Feeding the animals • Well-fed animals • Meat spoilage bacteria prefer growth at high pH levels - around pH 7.0 • Most bacteria, especially food poisoning ones do not grow at pH below 3.5 • Any decrease from normal value of about 6.8 reduces chances of bacterial multiplication, especially food poisoning ones
3. Feeding the animals • Meat of soothed and well-fed animals: • pH attains 5.5 or even lower level • Meat of fatigued or neurotic animals: • pH varies from 6.5 to 7.0 • To produce meat of good keeping and eating quality, often recommended to feed animals prior to slaughtering • In some cases sugar solution fed to quickly restore glycogen level in tissues
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE • Slaughtering rules apply to animals and birds in complete physical control of man - all domesticated birds and animals (except camel) • Camel slaughtered by method known as ‘nahr’ • Involves piercing throat with sharp, spear-like instrument while standing • Blood streams out, bleeding makes animal fall lifeless to ground • Any animal or bird gone wild and cannot be reached or caught, falls under category of ‘game animal’ - different rituals apply
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE • Conventionally, slaughteringprocess consists of two to three different stages • Depends on religious practices and legislations • Muslims and Jews not in favour of stunning • Western countries require animals be stunned before slaughtering • Posture of animal and bleedingmethod governed by religious and national legislations
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Stunning widely practiced in Western abattoirs • Main objective - make animal unconscious for gentle and painless death • No standard method for all animals under all conditions • Stunning effective in having calm animal
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Stunning may adversely affect quality of carcass - cause injury to medulla oblongata in brain - controls blood circulation and respiration • Desirable these systems continue to function - help pump blood out of carcass when blood vessels cut
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning StunningMethods • Older method involved hitting animal on its head with a hammer • Stunning methods in vogue: • Pole-axe • Free bullet • Captive bolt pistol • Concussion stunner • Electrical stunning • Carbon dioxide anesthesia
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Method of shooting by freebullet - too dangerous to use in abattoirs • Captivebolt - discarded • Carbondioxideanesthesia - exact dose of gas important for specific length of time • does not seem possible with all animals under all conditions.
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Electricalstunning widely used now-a-days • increases frequency of ‘blood splash” - appearance of small dark red areas in meat • also lowersglycogen reserves of muscle • estimated approximately in 5 % electrically stunned animals heart failure - animal dead before incision made • consumers eat carrion and not meat • Objectionable in West, also prohibited by Holy Scriptures
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Stunning - outcome of industrial revolution in West • Maximum animals be slaughtered in least time • Reality - no relation with mercy on animals • Industrialrevolution - provided mankind with innumerable benefits • inflicted damagingblows on some aspects of human nutrition • Example - refinement of wheat flour • Stunning might turn out harmful
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 1. Stunning • Debates - Muslims could eat meat of animals bled after stunning, even if all other requirements fulfilled • Views expressed in favour and against • Some Muslim countries accept, some do not
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 2. Animal positioning • Islamic method - lay animal on leftflank preferably facing Kibla • When laid on left flank, likelihood of more blood to drain owing to body pressure on heart • Laying animal enables it to convulse - results from contraction of muscles due to lack of oxygen in brain cells when incision made in neck
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 2. Animal positioning • During convulsions blood squeezed out of vessels • Hence more blooddrains out - a pre-requisite for meat of superior quality • Evidence suggests more blood lost from sheep in horizontal position than those hung vertically
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • Islam permits use of knife or any sharp object for bleeding except finger nail and bone • In an emergency use of sharp stone, white stone, bamboo and sharp arrow permitted • Incision made in neck with simultaneous recitation of the name of Allah - Takbir • Takbir has religious significance to believer who makes submission to Allah, since assumed that life taken out of animal with His permission
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • Slaughtering actually done in the name of Allah • Slaughtering not in name of any person or deity in accordance with following commands: • “So eat of (meats) on which God’s name has been pronounced if ye have faith in His Signs” (Vl:118). • “Eat not of meats on which God’s name has not been pronounced: that would be impiety. But the evil ones ever inspire their friends to commit end with you if ye were to obey them, ye would indeed be Pagans” (Vl:121).
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • Modern methods - domestic fowls and turkeys may be slaughtered instantaneously by means of decapitation or dislocation of neck • Present-day slaughterhouses • anterior vena cava severed on one side in cattle • carotid arteries in goats and sheep
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • Islamicmethod: • Cut throat transversely to severe carotid arteries, jugular veins, oesophagus and trachea without injuring spinal cord • Two essentials in slaughter of animals for meat: • animals be dispatched without unnecessary suffering • bleeding be as complete as possible
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • When both carotid arteries severed unconsciousness in sheep induced between 3 to 6 seconds • Islamic method ensures maximum blood drainage from body before completion of death process • Connection between brain and body retained via spinal cord • Brain sends messages to heart and lungs • Heart pumps blood to parts of body - drained out from severed blood vessels in neck
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques Results of a comparativestudy • Three different methods of slaughtering employed: • Maximumblood lost in Kosher method • Jewish method similar to Islamic as regards physical details • Minimum when chicken simply beheaded
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • Blood excellent medium for growth of microorganisms • Meat retaining more blood than critical level liable to bacterialspoilage • Blood retention in tissues can cause unpleasantappearance and discolouration in meat • Keeping and eatingqualities of meat depend, in part, on removal of maximum blood from carcass
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques • To produce goodcarcass animal be bled effectively • Heart and respiratorysystem must function continuously as long as possible after severance • This attained most thoroughly when heart and respiratory functions retained by maintaining medulla oblongata/spinal cord
SLAUGHTERING PROCEDURE 3. Bleeding techniques Positioning of animal in Islamic method: • clearly prevents retraction of carotids • ensures rapid onset of unconsciousness and painless death • In Islamic method of slaughtering maximumblooddrained - outranks other slaughtering techniques
EXTRODUCTION • Islam recognized animalrights long before human rights recognized in Western World • Numerous Ahadiths reflect Islam advocates kindness and mercy towards animals • Holy Prophet (pbuh) advised: • Nourish animals wel • Save animals from hunger and thirst • Show kindness to animals • Do not hit or mark animal on its face • Do not shoot arrows at cattle or bird tied or held up • Do not fight animals for sports or recreation • Do not unjustly killing even a sparrow or smaller bird (other than for food)
EXTRODUCTION • Current scientific data reveals Islamic recommendations for slaughtering animals highly rational • Good physique and health considered basic requirement for selection of food animals • Pre-slaughter management of animals requires they should not be fatigued, excited or neurotic • Proper rest, absence of hunger and thirst and use of sharp knife alleviate pains of death