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Last Updated: Sep 25th, 2006 - 11:36:04 |
While several World Halal Forum speakers have raised concerns over the current practice of thoracic sticking as part of Shariah acceptable method of slaughter by non Muslim meat producers, a representative of the Australian abattoirs, John Dorian from the Australian Meat Council have stood up and explained to everybody why this issue shouldn’t actually be in the forum’s agenda, nor it should be in any other discussions because it is actually a non issue.
Thoracic sticking, which is the act of cutting major blood vessels that exits from the cattle’s heart, i.e. the thorax, to allow the carcass to completely bleed out, only occurs when the animal is completely dead. There are several signs that the man on the production line looks out for before announcing the animal is dead, such as the absence of eye reflexes or a placid tongue.
“The aorta gives off major blood vessels which supply blood to the head. These vessels are very strong and muscular to maintain a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain. During the Islamic slaughter, these vessels are severed and have a tendency to contract, restricting flow of blood,” Dorian explained.
According to him, although blood flow still occurs, the animal is already dead and although the blood flow stops, there is still a small amount left, maybe one to two litres out of total of four to five gallons in cattle. When the aorta is restricted, blood cannot flow out with ease leaving behind some residue.
“Complete drainage of the vessels is necessary because when a significant amount of blood is left behind, it affects the taste, the texture and shortens the shelf life. It makes the meat very gamey, very strongly flavoured. So the aim is to completely drain the blood from the carcass,” he added.
This is normally done outside the two-minute window allowed by JAKIM and depending on the design of the production plant, it could be as long as five minutes. If for some reason the slaughtering was not performed correctly, for instance the animal moved during the slaughter ritual, the act of doing a thoracic stick makes sure the animal does not regain consciousness. This will also make sure that there are no concerns from animal welfare groups.
“But you must realise that this is not a concern for Halal because the carcass would already have been declared as non Halal by the Muslim slaughtermen and by the Muslim checker, the one who ensures if that procedure was carried out properly. In fact, if the two somehow failed to realise that the animal is not Halal, there will be another roving person that moves around on the floor to say that it is not Halal. Therefore, the whole issue of thoracic sticking is actually a non issue,” said Dorian.
“You must understand, it’s not in Australia’s interest to not meet the market needs. Australia is not an Islamic country, so we rely on the buying country to tell us what the requirements are. I may not know, and our government’s Australian Quarantine Inspection Services, which is synonymous to your Department of Veterinary Services, may not know what the requirements are. Islamic certifiers are actually the experts that should advise us. In the past, countries have had different views of what is Halal and what is not, and it was not spelled out clearly enough for us. If the importing countries specify what the requirements are, Australia as the exporting country will readily meet their requirements,” he added.
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