“Where’s The Bacon Boxmasters?”

…demands the English Defence League, in a confrontation with British Kentucky Fried Chicken executives at a board meeting in Manchester.

As has been widely reported, certain KFC restaurants in the UK have decided to become halal, on a trial basis, as the firm explains here. The Daily Mail noted eight such restaurants in May last year; the scheme has recently been extended, which has brought new media attention. The intention is obviously to compete with the various halal fried-chicken outlets that one can find in parts of London and elsewhere; the EDL, however, believes that halal-only KFCs are taking their “rights” away.

Meanwhile, it seems that some Muslims are sceptical of KFC’s halal status anyway:

Imam Yusuf Shabbir of the Lancashire Council of Mosques said: “If KFC confirms to us that it has no intention of changing the mechanical method of slaughter we will advise members of the Muslim community this.”

But a KFC spokesman said: “We’ve worked with animal welfare organisations and the Halal Food Authority to ensure our processes fully comply.

The HFA website does indeed endorse the KFC method. The spokesman also adds:

“And wherever possible we’ve made sure our trial stores are near non- halal restaurants, to provide customers with a choice.”

8 Responses

  1. My first thought was “Here we go again”. Then I checked the KFC web site. FAQ 3 as follows:
    “3. What does this mean for my store? What will change?
    There will be no change to the great taste of our products. ‘Halal’ is an Arabic word which simply means ‘permitted’ or ‘allowed’. For our chicken to be halal accredited, a verse is recited from the Koran by an appropriate person at the point of slaughter – nothing else changes. However, because pork products are not halal, bacon will not be served in our halal trial stores.”
    When I go to KFC I go for chicken (the clue is in the name – kentucky fried CHICKEN). I have NEVER had bacon from a KFC so I don’t give a **** whether they serve it or not. I also don’t give a **** whether they recite a verse from the Koran at the point of slaughter. I will accept that this is highly relevant to Muslims but will not take this as a reason to boycott KFC. I don’t go to KFC very often (very tasty but ….) and , I’m pleased to say, nothing here will change my opinion of them (to be honest, they’re trying to keep their target audience and also adding to it). KFC rules OK.

  2. I agree! I have never even heard of a bacon boxmaster and rarely visit KFC – though I remember during an adolescent vegetarian phase it was something I particularly craved.

  3. It has nothing to do with taste and every thing to do with cruelty, here is what the RSPCA say.

    http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/BlobServer?blobtable=RSPCABlob&blobcol=urlblob&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1109267162636&blobheader=application/pdf

  4. The EDL and BNP led opposition to Halal food has nothing at all to do with animal cruelty. If it did, there would be much larger campaigns to boycott the vast majority of restaurants and supermarkets that sell industrially farmed, industrially slaughtered non-Halal meat. They’re are no such campaigns. Why? Because, simply, the EDL and BNP are racist groups that exist to whip up racial discord.

  5. The EDL are not linked to the BNP and I do wish that uninformed people would keep their wild accusations to them selves.

    So you deny that halal slaughter is cruel?

    So instead of talking about the issues surrounding halal, you duck out by yelling racist.

    Arthur.

  6. Arthur, even if you think that the problem with halal meat is cruelty, the campaign against halal in KFC is clearly one organised by racists and motivated by racist ideas.

    http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2010/4/24/our-england-today-protests-against-kfc-in-preston.html

    And Arthur, if it is all about cruelty, why aren’t they outside EVERY KFC store?

  7. […] EDL’s dismay and outrage that Bacon Boxmasters are no longer available from some KFC stores here.   Details of Our England Today are scarce; adverts on Facebook were posted by a certain […]

  8. […] This is not the first complaint against halal meat; back in April, the English Defence League rallied to the cause of the KFC Bacon Boxmaster. […]

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