Pizza Express, which has 434 UK restaurants, has responded says it has never hidden the fact that it serves only halal chicken. In a statement the company said: “At PizzaExpress the quality and integrity of our ingredients remain our number one priority, and we have always been happy to provide information on our ingredients to our guests.
“It is no secret that all the chicken used in our dishes is halal slaughtered. Our teams in restaurants have and always will provide this information, and in addition it is available on the customer service section of our website.
“We’re committed to high animal welfare standards and as such the birds are stunned before slaughter. The quality, safety and integrity of our products is paramount and our chicken supplier is accredited by the British Retail Consortium.
“This means it meets the global standard for food safety. None of our other meats are halal.”
Under Islamic law, a chicken’s throat must be slit while it is alive to pass as halal meat. Some non-Muslims say this method of despatch is more painful than stunning the chicken before slaughter. Scientific opinion is divided on the issue.
A Food Standards Agency report in 2012 found that nearly 90% of all animals slaughtered by the halal method are stunned beforehand. However, some Muslims insist that stunning is not halal, and there is scriptural uncertainty clouding the debate.
Meat inspector Richard North told the Daily Telegraph that chains such as Pizza Express served halal chicken to save money. He is quoted as saying: “Keeping halal and non-halal meat is expensive and creates the risk of non-halal being fed to Muslims, which shops and restaurants know will cause uproar. Maybe they think non-Muslims are less likely to complain.”
With Britain's Muslim population growing fast, and estimated to be around 5.6 million people by 2030, there is clearly a big market for halal food. Surveys have shown that Muslims eat proportionately more fresh meat than the rest of the population, accounting for up to 15% of UK meat sales.
To cater for this market, some restaurant chains offer halal options. A spokesman for Nando’s said: “We have 314 restaurants, 64 of which serve only halal chicken and are signposted both in the restaurant and online.
“A small proportion of chicken sold in our other 250 restaurants is also halal and is not currently labelled when served. We continue to look at ways to offer chicken dishes which are guaranteed to be non-halal.
“All of our chicken suppliers meet the British Red Tractor Farm Assurance Standard and comply with all the European and UK animal welfare legislation. Chicken welfare is incredibly important to Nando’s and all of our halal chickens are stunned before slaughter to minimise stress.”
A spokesman for one of Britain’s largest high-street operators, Mitchells & Butlers, said its brands Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One served no halal meat in any of their venues.