GUIDELINES TO ISLAMIC SLAUGHTERING

By Maljis Ulama Singapura.

To ensure that the slaughtering of poultry is carried out in accordance with the Syari’ah, Muis has set down four stages of Halal control system for its Halal-certified poultry abattoirs:-

1st Stage: Sorting and Assessing of Poultry

In the first stage, the Muslim employees assigned have to check before slaughtering takes place that the poultry are still alive, healthy and free from any diseases and defects. Dead poultry must be properly segregated and disposed off. No unnecessary force to be used when hanging the poultry onto the shackle line.

2nd Stage: Slaughtering of Poultry

Prior to the Halal slaughtering process, the Manager/Supervisor and the slaughterer shall conduct pre-slaughtering test to ensure that the poultry is not dead due to electrical stunning. This is performed by adjusting the correct electrical voltage to suit the poultry of varying sizes. Three or four birds will be tested by going through the stunner. Meanwhile, the water level in the blood drainage compartment must be kept to the minimal to ensure that the poultry’s head is not fully immersed in the water.

In this second stage of the control system, the qualified Muslim slaughterers must strictly comply with the Halal slaughtering requirements where the poultry is killed by cutting the windpipe, the gullet and the jugular vein with a sharp object (e.g. knife) to inflict a precise cut. In order to ensure optimal concentration and prevent fatigue during slaughtering, the speed of the moving shackle, on which the poultry is hung, shall not be too fast. In addition to that, the slaughterers shall rotate duties with other qualified slaughterers every half an hour.

3rd Stage: Halal Monitoring System

Before the poultry passes through the defeathering section, the Halal control system required the Muslim employees to verify and ensure that the animal’s windpipe, gullet and jugular vein are completely cut and rendered dead before it reaches the boiler.

4th Stage: Labeling of Poultry

The final control system involves labeling the slaughtered poultry. The Halal labels shall be tagged by Muslim employees only. The Muslim staff shall ensure that only poultry which has been slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic requirements shall be tagged with the Halal labels.