加国屠宰场将混淆清真肉制品

                       

不久前，我曾撰文介绍过“清真”肉制品及其认证体系。相关认证及评分体系对于生产可供穆斯林消费者食用的“许可” 肉制品至关重要。

Some time ago, I wrote about “Halal” meats and certification systems. This certification and marking system is necessary to produce “allowed” meats for Muslim consumers.

 

但当时我并没有意识到这会导致加国的肉类加工行业发生翻天覆地的变化。鉴于穆斯林群体在加美两国人口中的占比分别高达3%（100万）和2.1%（660万），这些改变会导致令人无法想象的后果。

Little did I realise at that time that this will bring about a sea change for the meat production industry in Canada. Given that the Muslim population is but 3% (1 million) in Canada and 2.1% (6.6 million) in the USA, one cannot imagine the changes that will eventually come along.

如前所述，家畜（牛、羊，羔羊）和家禽的“清真”屠宰方式与屠宰场已沿用数十年的传统屠宰方法有所不同。此外，穆斯林禁止食用猪肉。

As explained earlier, the slaughtering of cattle (cows, sheep, lamb) and poultry in a “Halal” method differs from that of the traditional methods used for decades in slaughter houses. Pigs are not allowed for Muslim diets.

“清真”屠宰要求涉及三个要素:肉食来源、动物死因以及加工方式。

There are three (3) elements involved in the “HALAL” determination process: the source, the cause of the animal' s death, and how it was processed.

 

1)食品供应商必须严格依照清真要求行事。具体来说，屠宰者必须是一名穆斯林，其在宰杀每只动物前都必须呼诵真主尊名，在通常情况下屠宰者会说“Tasmiyah”(真主尊名)，然后再连说三遍“Takbir”(真主至大)。

1) The food supplier must use halal practices. Specifically, the slaughter must be performed by a Muslim, who must precede the slaughter of each animal by invoking the name of Allah, most commonly by saying "Tasmiyah" ("In the name of God") and then three times "Takbir” (God is the greatest). 

 

2)屠宰者必须使用锋利的刀子同时切断动物颈部的喉管、气管和血管，杀死动物时不可刀切脊背。

2) The animal must be slaughtered with a sharp knife by cutting the throat, windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck, causing the animal's death without cutting the spinal cord.

 

3)在宰杀后动物静脉血必须放干。
3) The blood from the veins must be drained.

 

屠宰要求的差异导致屠宰场改进生产线，并且必须安排穆斯林工人按照要求生产 “清真”肉制品。此外，相关肉制品还必须进行单独储存和包装，以进行清真认证。

These differences caused the production lines to be modified and Muslim workers will have to be scheduled to properly produce “Halal” meats. The meats will also have to be separately stored and packaged for Halal Certifications. 

 

目前，加国许多工厂每周只进行一天清真肉制品生产，而“清真”肉制品的定价通常要比普通肉制品高出10%左右。

At this moment, many factories will switch to Halal meats production for one day only each week. They price the “Halal” meats about 10% more than the regular meats.  

 

由于清真认证有固定收费标准，屠宰场即便每周七天都生产“清真”肉制品也不会导致成本大幅增加。而在海外穆斯林国家市场最近向加国“清真”肉制品敞开大门后，加国屠宰场更添动力，因为实现利润最大化的一个简单方法就是全部生产“清真”肉制品，只是使用分别印制和张贴的包装盒去满足两类消费者的需要。而工厂也因此无需再对非清真产品进行单独储存！

Since there is a standard charging fee for certifications already, there will not be significant costs for slaughter houses to switch to preparing “Halal” meats seven days a week. The final push comes when the  overseas markets open up for Canadian “Halal” meats in Muslim countries recently. An easy way to maximize profits is to produce “Halal” meats without exception, and just use separately printed and labeled boxes to satisfy two groups of consumers. There is no need to keep separate inventories for non-halal consumers gain!

 

我的调查结果表明这就是加国屠宰场的未来发展趋势。他们将只生产“清真”肉制品但却会分别进行包装。这样一来，他们就不会“冒犯”那些不愿购买诵另一个神明（真主）之名而屠宰的动物肉制品的非穆斯林消费者的宗教信仰。在这些消费者中有许多人早已不再购买或食用商店和餐馆内的“清真”肉制品。

My investigations suggest to me that this is the future trend for the Canadian slaughter houses. They will produce all “Halal” meats only but packaged them separately. That way, they will not “offend” religious non-muslim consumers who will not want to buy meats coming from animals slaughtered while the name of another God (Allah) is invoked. Many of these people have already stopped buying or eating “Halal” meats from shops and restaurants.

 

消费者有权知晓自己所购的是何种肉制品。将“清真”肉制品当作普通肉制品出售不仅不道德，同时也剥夺了消费者的选择权。除非消费者组织起来采取行动，屠宰场只生产“清真”肉制品的时代很快就会来临。

Consumers have a right to know what kind of meat they are buying. To sell “Halal” meats as regular meats would not only be unethical but also depriving consumers of choices. Unless the consumers are organized and take actions, the days of “Halal” meats only will be upon us very soon.