Supermarkets
Halal Meat in UK Supermarkets: Correspondence and Research
By Catherine Blaiklock
Between 2021 and 2025, correspondence with major UK supermarkets — including Sainsbury's and Waitrose — asked whether standard own-brand meat is halal- slaughtered. What follows is a full account of those exchanges, together with published positions, wider research, and in-store evidence.
Sheep in distress on the kill floor of an English halal slaughterhouse
Source: Still from “HALAL SLAUGHTERHOUSE EXPOSED IN ENGLAND (EXTREMELY GRAPHIC)”, Joey Carbstrong / YouTube. Watch on YouTube
Sainsbury's Published Position on Halal Meat
Sainsbury's official position, published on its help website, states:
“Under no circumstances would any of our own brand meat be from an animal that has not been stunned prior to slaughter. In New Zealand it is common for lamb to be blessed however we have never requested this and all of our own brand meat is from animals stunned prior to slaughter so it would be wrong to label our own brand meat as halal. We do sell a selection of branded halal and kosher products in some stores, all of which is very clearly labelled.”
This statement is significant in two respects. First, it is an admission that Sainsbury's New Zealand lamb is routinely blessed — that is, subjected to the Islamic prayer at the point of slaughter — even though Sainsbury's claims not to have requested this. Second, Sainsbury's uses the fact of pre-stunning to argue it would be “wrong” to label it halal. This is a position I fundamentally dispute. Whether or not an animal is stunned before slaughter, if a Muslim prayer is recited over it at the point of death, it is halal. The blessing makes it halal — that is precisely what halal means. The stunning is a separate matter entirely. Sainsbury's meat is therefore legally halal, regardless of what it chooses to put on the label.
Background: The 2010 Admissions
The issue of halal meat in Sainsbury's supply chain first became public in September 2010, as part of the Mail on Sunday investigation that exposed halal labelling practices across all major British supermarkets. At that time, a Sainsbury's spokesman confirmed to the newspaper:
“The abattoirs that supply us with lamb are licensed by the Muslim authorities and a prayer is said when the animals are killed.”
A further Sainsbury's statement from that period went even further:
“The abattoirs that supply us with meat are all licensed by the Muslim Authorities and a prayer is said when the animals are killed. Our meat is not labelled Halal despite being approved by the Halal Food Authority.”
These are direct admissions: Sainsbury's abattoirs are licensed by Muslim authorities; a prayer is said over every animal; and the meat is approved by the Halal Food Authority. Yet it is not labelled as halal. Sainsbury's has never publicly retracted or updated these admissions.
Sainsbury's sits in a position described by commentators as “no-man's land”: its meat is halal enough through the prayer said at the point of slaughter to be objectionable to non-Muslim customers who do not wish to eat it, but not considered halal enough through the slaughter method to satisfy the most observant Muslim consumers who require unstunned slaughter.
The Correspondence
Four case references, four customer service representatives, approximately fifteen emails. The same direct question repeated. The case below labelled Jennyly contains the most significant written admission.
Case ID: COR-202510-14369
Representative: Jonathan
1 reply received from Sainsbury's, 3 emails sent by me.
17 October 2025 — Sainsbury's response
Following my Subject Access Request, Jonathan replied:
“Sainsbury's own-brand meat products labelled as ‘0% religiously slaughtered’ are sourced from suppliers who confirm that animals are not slaughtered according to religious rites. This means the meat is not halal or kosher, and no religious methods are used during processing.”
20 October 2025 — My first follow-up
I asked Jonathan to explain how the slaughterhouses supplying Sainsbury's appear on halal websites and are marked as religious slaughter facilities, and to address each slaughterhouse in turn.
20 October 2025 — My second follow-up: the nine products
I listed all nine products from my order number 1218942549, with their plant codes:
- Chicken portions — Moy Park 9502
- Beef joint — Busmere 4073 (cutting plant for ABP N.Ireland Lurgan, HFA certified)
- Lamb chops — Dunbia 7195
- Leg of lamb — Dunbia 7195
- Whole chicken — Moy Park 3011
- Chicken breasts — Moy Park 3011
- Rump steak — Busmere 4073
- Lamb shoulder — Dunbia 7195
- Diced chicken breasts — Moy Park 3011
I pointed out that Moy Park plant 3011 appears on the Muslim halal consumer website “Halal by Plant Number's Blog” as a halal facility, and that Busmere 4073 is a cutting plant for ABP N.Ireland Lurgan, which is certified by the Halal Food Authority. I wrote: “Just saying that they are not, proves nothing. The cutting plants may not be religious slaughter, but the slaughter houses are on all sorts of websites saying that they are religious slaughter. They cannot be half and half. I believe that all of them are religiously slaughtered.” Sainsbury's did not respond to any of these specific challenges.
Case ID: COR-202510-22228
Representative: Nicole
1 reply received from Sainsbury's, 2 emails sent by me.
31 October 2025 — Sainsbury's response
Nicole repeated the standard position: halal certification applies only to specific production lines or batches; unless a product is explicitly labelled halal it should not be assumed to be so. She added that Sainsbury's would review the information I had provided, including my references to halal monitoring websites.
31 October 2025 — My follow-ups
I pressed on New Zealand lamb specifically, pointing out that I had received NZ lamb from Sainsbury's and asking them to confirm whether it was halal, given that the vast majority of exported NZ lamb is halal-slaughtered. I put a second question: “Why should we assume as a default mode that unless it is labelled, the meat is not Halal? Evidence suggests that a majority of lamb produced in the UK is now produced by Halal methods, so surely statistically the default assumption should be that the lamb is Halal?” Sainsbury's did not reply to either question.
Case ID: COR-202511-3022
Representative: Jeffrey
1 reply received from Sainsbury's, 5 emails sent by me. No further replies after the initial response.
5 November 2025 — Sainsbury's response
Following a further complaint specifically about New Zealand lamb, Jeffrey replied:
“We are aware that some suppliers may produce Halal-certified products for specific markets or clients, but this does not necessarily mean that all products from that supplier are Halal. The certification applies only to specific production lines or batches, and not to the entire output of a facility. Therefore, unless a product is explicitly labelled Halal, it should not be assumed to be so.”
5 November 2025 — My first follow-up
I replied: “You have not answered a simple question: is your NZ lamb Halal? Please answer. It is yes or no.” Jeffrey did not reply.
5 November 2025 — My second follow-up
I wrote again: “You have not yet answered about religiously slaughtered meat. Were any of the samples religiously slaughtered?” No response.
25 November 2025 — My third, fourth and fifth follow-ups
Having received no reply for three weeks, I wrote three further times on 25 November. In one I stated: “It is a legal duty to answer a subject access question. I asked you on 5th November but still do not have a reply.” In another I set out that approximately 98% of New Zealand's sheep and lamb slaughter is halal and that virtually all lamb exported for commercial sale is halal-certified, and asked Sainsbury's to confirm whether the NZ lamb it supplied fell into this category. I also stated: “I am not asking you if it is certified. I want to know if it is Halal or religiously slaughtered.” Sainsbury's did not respond to any of these letters.
Case ID: COR-202511-18321 — the key admission
Representative: Jennyly
1 reply received from Sainsbury's after approximately 10 emails from me, 1 further email sent by me. This case contains the most significant admission in the entire correspondence.
26 November 2025 — Sainsbury's response
After approximately ten emails without a substantive answer, Jennyly finally replied:
“In New Zealand, it is common practice for lamb to be blessed; however, we have never requested this. As all of our own-brand meat is from animals stunned prior to slaughter, it would be incorrect to label our own-brand lamb as halal.”
Sainsbury's has confirmed in writing that its New Zealand lamb is routinely blessed — subjected to the Islamic prayer at the point of slaughter. It then argues that because the animals are pre-stunned, labelling it halal would be “incorrect.”
26 November 2025 — My response
“The stunning is legally irrelevant: it either is Halal or it is not Halal — it cannot be half and half. So you have finally admitted that your meat is Halal. Blessing it is making it a sacrifice to Allah, i.e. Halal. It is legally irrelevant if you requested it or not. You have to know what you are selling under Trade Description laws.”
I put four further questions to Sainsbury's which were not answered:
- What percentage of your British meat is Islamically blessed?
- What percentage of your New Zealand meat is Islamically blessed?
- Is the stun used for blessed meat identical to that used for conventional slaughter?
- What percentage of stunned religiously slaughtered animals recover consciousness during the bleeding process?
Wider Research
Sainsbury's and HFA Certification
According to HalalSpy, a Muslim consumer information website, Sainsbury's halal meat programme is certified by the Halal Food Authority (HFA). The HFA standard permits electrical pre-stunning of animals before slaughter, provided the stunning does not kill the animal, with a Muslim slaughterman performing the cut and reciting the Bismillah. Sainsbury's does not hold certification from the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC), which requires unstunned slaughter. This means Sainsbury's labelled halal products meet HFA but not HMC standards.
Moy Park, Dunbia and ABP: The Plant Codes
Three suppliers appeared across my nine products. Moy Park (codes 9502 and 3011) is one of Europe's largest poultry processors. Plant 3011 is listed on the Muslim “Halal by Plant Number's Blog” as a halal facility. ABP Food Group's Lurgan plant in Northern Ireland (code 4073) is confirmed as HFA-certified. Dunbia (code 7195) is one of the UK's largest red meat processors, supplying major supermarkets with British and Irish beef and lamb.
Critically, a Muslim consumer website (isithalalorharam.com) that critiques HFA certification lists both Dunbia and Randall Parker Foods among HFA-approved slaughterhouses, describing them as “non-Muslim” companies that have nevertheless obtained HFA approval. The site states explicitly that the HFA's list of approved companies includes “Dunbia (non-Muslim)” and “Randall Parker Foods (non-Muslim)” among others. This is significant: even conservative Muslim critics of the HFA — who object to the HFA precisely because it approves non-Muslim operators — confirm that these companies hold HFA certification. Sainsbury's was unable or unwilling to address this when I raised it.
The “Halal by Plant Number's Blog”, a Muslim consumer reference website, also lists a Dunbia Preston plant (code 4071) in its Stunned halal category, confirming that at least one Dunbia facility is recognised within the Muslim community as a halal operation. Dunbia operates multiple plants across the UK and Ireland; the halal status of plant 7195 specifically requires further clarification, but the company's HFA approval across its operations is confirmed by independent Muslim sources.
Sainsbury's Statement to Industry Press, October 2025
As the halal labelling controversy reignited in October 2025 following viral social media posts about unlabelled halal meat, Farmers Guide magazine reported on the industry response. According to that report, Sainsbury's stated that “all Sainsbury's own-brand meat is stunned before slaughter and is not halal or kosher” but acknowledged that labelled, pre-stunned halal and kosher products are available in some stores. This statement is notably different from its written customer correspondence, which admitted that NZ lamb is routinely blessed. The industry statement makes no mention of the blessing of New Zealand lamb.
New Zealand Lamb: The Commercial Reality
The scale of halal slaughter in New Zealand is significant. According to a US Department of Agriculture report, approximately 78% of all sheep slaughter in New Zealand is halal. The New Zealand Meat Industry Association (MIA) states that around 45% of all red meat exports are halal certified, worth NZ$3.7 billion annually, describing halal processing as “a cornerstone of our sector.” Beef Magazine has reported that “nearly all sheep are slaughtered under Halal rules” in New Zealand. The Halal Food Guy website confirms that “nearly all of New Zealand's red meat export slaughter premises are certified to undertake slaughter in compliance with halal requirements.”
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) ensures that all meat exports from New Zealand accompanied by a Halal Certificate are guaranteed halal. FIANZ is the sole halal certifier for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and certifies large quantities of meat exported to the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere. In countries such as the UK where halal labelling is not compulsory, the final packaging decision rests with the retailer — meaning that halal-certified NZ lamb can arrive at Sainsbury's and be re-packaged without any halal designation on the label the customer sees.
A Parliamentary research briefing on religious slaughter confirmed that for many British food companies, the catalyst for seeking halal endorsement is a specific export customer, often from the Middle East. New Zealand lamb is processed to halal standards to access these markets, and the same product enters the UK mainstream supply chain unlabelled.
The Sustainable Food Trust has observed that Sainsbury's “acknowledged that it bought pre-stunned lamb from New Zealand, where it is common for lamb to be blessed, which certainly implies that much of the lamb, labelled or not, is halal.” This mirrors my own reading of Sainsbury's correspondence: the admission is there, buried in qualifications, but it is never stated plainly.
Analysis: What Has Sainsbury's Actually Admitted?
Sainsbury's has made three substantive admissions across the period covered by this document. In 2010 it confirmed that its abattoirs are licensed by Muslim authorities, a prayer is said when animals are killed, and its meat is approved by the Halal Food Authority. In November 2025, in writing, Jennyly confirmed that it is common practice for New Zealand lamb to be blessed at slaughter.
Sainsbury's central defence throughout has been that pre-stunning means the meat cannot properly be called halal. I disagree. The question of whether an animal is stunned before death is an animal welfare question. The question of whether a Muslim prayer — a blessing dedicating the animal to Allah — is recited over it is a separate religious question. Many customers who object to eating meat over which an Islamic prayer has been said do so on religious or cultural grounds that have nothing to do with how the animal was stunned. For Sikhs, Hindus and many Christians, a prayer to Allah recited over the food they eat is a matter of religious conscience — and no amount of pre-stunning changes that.
Across approximately fifteen emails to four different customer service representatives, the simple question “is your New Zealand lamb halal?” was never once answered directly. That is not transparency. It is evasion.
The deeper problem — which explains why so much of this research depends on circumstantial evidence — is that official channels have been systematically obstructed. A document published by Free Speech Backlash, titled “A Decade and a Half of Obstruction,” catalogues FOI requests made to public authorities on halal slaughter and labelling. It describes a consistent pattern of failure to provide transparency: the FSA deflecting questions about whether retail practices were lawful to Defra (described as “jurisdictional ping-pong”); official statistics on mis-stun rates so incomplete as to be misleading; and a refusal to provide a list of slaughterhouses approved for religious slaughter on the grounds that no separate register exists — even though each approved slaughterhouse holds a unique establishment code that is stamped on all meat leaving that facility.
As that document notes: “Councillors and campaigners have spent years cross-referencing codes against halal food websites and certification body records to establish this information — information that the FSA and Defra themselves hold.” This is precisely the position I found myself in. Unable to get straight answers from Sainsbury's and unable to obtain official data through normal channels, I was forced to cross-reference plant codes against Muslim halal consumer websites to build a circumstantial picture of what I was actually eating.
There is a significant irony here that should not be lost. The most reliable information about whether British supermarket meat is halal does not come from the supermarkets themselves, from the government, or from the FSA. It comes from Muslim consumer websites — websites created specifically to help Muslim shoppers verify that their food meets Islamic requirements. The “Halal by Plant Number's Blog”, the HFA's own certified supplier lists, and Muslim consumer forums are the primary sources through which non-Muslim consumers can discover the halal status of their food. The people most concerned about knowing whether their food is halal are Muslim consumers — and they have done the work that the state and the supermarkets refused to do. It is their databases that non-Muslims must now rely on.
Waitrose
Waitrose and Halal Meat: A Customer's Correspondence. The following documents an exchange between a member of the public and Waitrose Customer Services in April and May 2021, together with subsequent evidence gathered in 2025. Personal identifiers have been redacted.
The Correspondence (April–May 2021)
29 April 2021 — Customer to Waitrose
A customer wrote to Waitrose with four precisely worded questions:
- Do you stock any certified Halal meat?
- Do you stock any uncertified Halal meat — that is, meat that has been Halal-slaughtered but not labelled or certified as such? (Some slaughterhouses deliver Halal-slaughtered meat without certifying it as Halal-slaughtered, to boost sales. Some supermarkets say “we never knowingly stock Halal certified meat” whilst not doing due diligence on whether it is in fact uncertified Halal-slaughtered.)
- If the answer to question 2 is “No”, how can you assure me that you have done due diligence — for example, establishing whether your slaughterhouse has a protocol of supplying uncertified Halal, and insisting they confirm your supplies are truly non-Halal?
- If your answer to questions 1 or 2 is in the affirmative, do you clearly label the product as Halal, whether certified or uncertified?
29 April 2021 — Waitrose response (Amy Martin, Customer Care)
Waitrose's initial reply consisted of a single line:
“Thank you for raising this but Waitrose does not sell Halal meat.”
None of the four questions was answered accurately.
30 April 2021 — Customer follow-up
The customer pointed out that the reply had not addressed questions 2 and 3, and that “We don't sell Halal” could mean “We don't sell certified Halal” while uncertified Halal-slaughtered meat was nevertheless entering the supply chain. He requested specific answers to all four questions.
30 April 2021 — Waitrose second response (Amy Martin, Customer Care)
Waitrose responded at greater length, but began — again — by stating:
“Waitrose does not sell Halal meat.”
The same email then immediately contradicted this:
“We don't sell Halal meat. Some of our lambs are Halal blessed at the point of slaughter so that offcuts we don't use can be utilised in other markets. However, the meat is not Halal when it reaches our shelves because we don't segregate it in the supply chain as Halal would require.”
Waitrose also stated that all animals are pre-stunned, and that only Duchy Originals lamb and certain English, West Country and Dorset counter lamb was not Halal-blessed — implying all other Waitrose lamb was. On labelling, Waitrose wrote:
“There is currently no UK labelling scheme to cover this area and, if it was decided that labelling was needed, we believe this is a matter where Government should lead.”
30 April 2021 — Customer response
The customer wrote a detailed rebuttal, pointing out that Waitrose had stated “Waitrose does not sell Halal meat” and then confirmed in the very same email that it did sell Halal-slaughtered meat. He wrote:
“You are dancing around the semantics of what Halal means by refusing to engage with me on the term ‘Halal-slaughtered’ — which IS Halal regardless of a certification or lack of certification further down the supply chain. The regulations are in place to assure Muslims that Halal meat is not contaminated with non-Halal meat. They are not in place to be used to bamboozle non-Muslims into thinking they're not eating Halal-slaughtered meat when they clearly are. I'm quite sure you are asked the same question on a regular basis by customers who do not want to eat any Halal-slaughtered meat. If you reply to them as Amy did in your first response, they will all go away with the impression that no meat at Waitrose has been Halal-slaughtered. They will all be under a complete misapprehension.”
He asked Waitrose to outline how it proposed to rectify “this egregious lack of transparency.”
3 May 2021 — Waitrose response (Nicola Merrison, Customer Care)
Waitrose's third response repeated the same script: all animals are pre-stunned; some lamb is Halal-blessed; only Duchy Originals and certain counter lamb is not. The question of transparency was not addressed.
4 May 2021 — Customer follow-up and Waitrose final response (Esther Moschini, Customer Care)
The customer asked for clarification on whether “all other meat and poultry” was definitively not Halal-slaughtered. Waitrose replied only that it was “the only lamb” that received a Halal blessing, and that the meat was “not Halal when it reaches our shelves because we don't segregate it in the supply chain.” No further engagement on the transparency question was offered.
Analysis: What Has Waitrose Actually Admitted?
Waitrose has never made a single clear statement about its halal lamb. What it has said is that “some” of its lamb is halal-blessed. It then named Duchy Originals and certain English, West Country and Dorset counter lamb as the specific ranges that are NOT halal-blessed — leaving customers to infer that all other lamb is. However, Waitrose has never explicitly confirmed this. In fact, in the same 2021 correspondence it stated “all other Waitrose meat and poultry is non-Halal” — the opposite of what the rest of its admissions implied.
The closest Waitrose has come to a direct admission was in 2010, when a spokeswoman told The Mail on Sunday: “The [Islamic] prayer said at the point of slaughter applies to all our lamb.” This was said to a journalist, not committed to in writing to a customer.
The pattern throughout is one of deliberate ambiguity: partial admissions, internal contradictions, and a consistent refusal to make a clear, unequivocal statement that customers could rely on. By naming only Duchy Originals and counter lamb as non-halal- blessed, Waitrose was in effect admitting everything else receives the blessing — but it has never said so directly, and has on occasion said the opposite.
Waitrose Lamb Background
What has Waitrose actually admitted in writing about its lamb? The answer requires careful reading of its own statements. Its admissions have emerged piecemeal — often contradictory, always qualified — and no customer reading the correspondence in good faith could walk away with a clear picture of how much of its lamb is halal-slaughtered.
The strongest written statement came not from customer correspondence but from a spokeswoman speaking to The Mail on Sunday in September 2010, who said: “You mentioned the [Islamic] prayer said at the point of slaughter. This applies to all our lamb but not to beef or poultry.” This was the closest Waitrose has ever come to admitting that all its lamb is halal-blessed.
In the written customer correspondence of April and May 2021 documented above, Waitrose was more evasive. It stated only that “some of our lambs are Halal blessed at the point of slaughter” — deliberately vague about how many. It then named Duchy Originals and certain English, West Country and Dorset counter lamb as the ranges NOT halal-blessed, leaving customers to infer that all other lamb was. But Waitrose never stated this directly. Indeed, in the same correspondence it claimed: “All other Waitrose meat and poultry is non-Halal” — a statement that flatly contradicts the implication of its other admissions.
In January 2011, Waitrose had confirmed in writing to a local newspaper: “All Waitrose pre-packed New Zealand Lamb continues to receive a Halal blessing at slaughter.” This at least confirmed all New Zealand lamb was halal. As recently as May 2025, Waitrose's official account on X was still telling customers: “Waitrose does not sell Halal meat” — a claim that sits uncomfortably alongside fifteen years of its own partial admissions.
The halal status of Waitrose lamb first became a major public controversy in September 2010, when The Mail on Sunday revealed that all lamb sold by Waitrose — including the premium Duchy Originals range established by the then Prince of Wales — was being slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law. A spokesman for Prince Charles stated he had been entirely unaware of this. Waitrose subsequently announced that Duchy Originals would no longer be halal-blessed, presenting this as giving customers more choice, while all other lamb remained halal and unlabelled.
It is important to note that a plant code on packaging alone does not confirm whether a specific product is halal. Processing plants routinely handle both halal and non-halal meat, and the code simply identifies the facility. What is significant about Waitrose lamb packaging bearing the code 6057 alongside the words “RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER” is the explicit designation of method — it is this combination, not the plant code in isolation, that identifies the specific product as having been slaughtered under religious slaughter conditions.
July 2025 — Duchy Originals lamb: the plant code
In July 2025, a Waitrose Duchy Organic British Half Leg of Lamb — the very range introduced in 2010 specifically as a non-Halal alternative — was found to carry the following code on its packaging:
GB 6057 RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER
GB 6057 is the code for Randall Parker Foods' cutting and retail packing plant at Tilly Down, Appleshaw, Andover, Hampshire. This is a cutting plant, not a slaughterhouse. Randall Parker Foods operates three facilities: an abattoir in Llanidloes, Wales; the Andover cutting and retail packing plant; and a Leicester packing and frozen products facility. The slaughtering takes place in Wales; the Andover plant — whose code appears on Waitrose packaging — is where the meat is cut and packed for retail.
Randall Parker Foods is halal certified. Their own company website currently states they are approved by RACS. Food Innovation Wales independently lists the Halal Food Authority (HFA) among their certifications. The certifying body named has varied across sources and over time, and they may hold both. What is not in dispute is that the company is halal certified and has been for many years.
RACS is an international halal certification body headquartered in Dubai, with offices in Germany, the UK and the US. It specialises in certification for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and is accredited by the GCC Accreditation Centre and the Emirates International Accreditation Centre, and approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority. RACS certification is significant primarily because it enables producers to export halal- certified products to Middle Eastern markets — Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the wider GCC. This is directly relevant here: the commercial driver for Randall Parker Foods' halal certification is export to the Middle East. Their lamb is halal-certified for those export markets, and as a consequence the same meat — processed through the same halal-certified facility — is also what ends up on Waitrose shelves, unlabelled, in the UK. Randall Parker Foods' own website states:
“All our Halal lamb products are guaranteed to have been produced and processed in accordance with Islamic rites as well as our own high animal welfare standards. We are approved by the Halal Certification body RACS and we have been producing Halal products for many years. We are an established and reliable producer of Halal lamb for both the home and international markets. Our processing is carried out by a dedicated and fully qualified Muslim slaughterman with supervision by our own welfare team and UK Government veterinarians.”
The presence of the code “GB 6057 RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER” on the Duchy Originals packaging in 2025 directly contradicts Waitrose's repeated assurances, made since 2010, that this particular range was not Halal-slaughtered.
Recognition of Code 6057 on Muslim Halal Websites
The code GB 6057 has been catalogued on Muslim-run halal consumer websites since at least 2013. A website called “Halal by Plant Number's Blog” (mohammedsaleem.wordpress.com), described as “Empowering Halal Consumers With Knowledge,” lists code 6057 in its “Stunned” halal category, confirming it as a recognised halal-stunned facility. The entry reads:
Randall Parker Foods (STUNN), Tilly Down, Appleshaw, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 9BB. Facilities: cutting plant, minced meat.
The “(STUNN)” designation indicates that the facility uses pre-stunned halal slaughter, which is the method accepted by the Halal Food Authority. The site was created specifically to allow Muslim consumers to look up plant codes on packaging and verify that their meat was slaughtered in accordance with halal requirements. The same code that Muslim consumers use to confirm their meat is halal is the code that has been appearing on Waitrose Duchy Originals packaging.
September 2025 — Nationwide Survey of Waitrose Lamb Packaging
In September 2025, photographic evidence was compiled from multiple Waitrose stores across the country of lamb products bearing the code 6057. The following products were all found to carry the code “Randall Parker Halal, Code 6057”:
- Waitrose Duchy Original Organic Lamb
- Waitrose Higher Welfare British Lamb Whole Leg
- Waitrose Higher Welfare Welsh Lamb Half Leg
This evidence was compiled for use as part of a legal pre-action letter. Separately, a consumer survey conducted across multiple Waitrose stores around the country and reported on X (formerly Twitter) found that every single leg of lamb examined bore the code “Religious Slaughter 6057 Randall Parker.”
Here is a part of a long stream of emails about Halal meat and a Waitrose customer. I have had similar lengthy correspondence with Sainsburys. Starts with image 1. We do not sell Halal. Ends up many emails later with image 2. We do sell Halal. (Religiously Slaughtered Meat as a Show more
Newspaper Coverage
The Duchy Originals halal issue has been reported in the following newspapers:
- The Mail on Sunday, 28 September 2010. The original investigation that first revealed British supermarkets were secretly selling halal lamb without labelling it. The newspaper forced admissions from Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S. It was this investigation that exposed the fact that Duchy Originals lamb was halal- slaughtered — something that even a spokesman for Prince Charles said he had been unaware of.
- The Daily Mail, 3 October 2010. Follow-up piece headlined “Waitrose forced to ditch halal lamb from Prince of Wales' Duchy range,” by journalist Abul Taher. Reported Waitrose's announcement that Duchy Originals would no longer be halal, while confirming that all other Waitrose lamb would remain halal and unlabelled. Noted that when The Mail on Sunday had asked Waitrose on the Friday whether Duchy Originals lamb was halal, Waitrose could not immediately answer, before unexpectedly announcing its change of heart the following day.
- The Saffron Walden Reporter, January 2011. Local newspaper piece by Nick Thompson reporting a Christian customer's complaint that Waitrose's food packaging did not disclose that most ranges of lamb sold at the Saffron Walden store conformed to halal. The customer stated: “As a Christian I do object to being in effect forced to eat meat blessed in this way.” Waitrose's response confirmed that all pre-packed New Zealand lamb continued to receive a halal blessing at slaughter.
Summary
Over the course of this correspondence, Waitrose: denied selling Halal meat; admitted selling Halal-blessed lamb in the same email; refused to answer specific questions about uncertified Halal meat entering the supply chain; declined to commit to any labelling measures; and continued for at least fourteen years to supply lamb from a fully Halal- certified operation while telling customers that certain ranges were non-Halal.
No UK law currently requires Halal meat to be labelled as such. Waitrose's position is that this is a matter for Government. In the meantime, consumers have no reliable way of knowing, from the packaging alone, whether the lamb they are buying has been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.
Plant code survey (June–July 2025)
Field notes from supermarket visits across England in June and July 2025. Each row records the product examined, the establishment code stamped on packaging, the named processor where noted, and a survey assessment of whether the code points to halal slaughter — cross-referenced against halal consumer plant-code databases and certification records. Personal identifiers have been redacted.
The “Halal (survey)” column reflects the researcher's assessment at the time of the visit, not a supermarket's own label claim. Codes such as 6057 (Randall Parker Foods) and 7195 (Dunbia / St Merryn) appear repeatedly across multiple chains.
Individual product codes
75 products recorded across 16 store locations.
| Store | Product | Date | Label line | Code | Processor | Halal (survey) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldi Bracknell | Chicken thighs | 2025-07-03 | Room to thrive | 2037 | 2 Sisters | Yes | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | British Beef brisket | 2025-07-03 | No comment | 4109 | EC BPC | No | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | Half a leg of lamb | 2025-07-03 | Seasonal quality | 4109 | EC BPC | No | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | Chicken breast | 2025-07-03 | Room to thrive | 7009 | 2 Sisters | Yes | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | Aberdeen Angus | 2025-07-03 | Pedegree British Bulls | 7176 | 2 Sisters | Yes | — |
| Asda Marlborough | Chicken mini fillets | 2025-07-06 | Quality checked. Trusted farmers | 7009 | 2 sisters | yes | — |
| Asda Marlborough | Chicken pieces | 2025-07-06 | Reared to higher welfare standards | 8005 | lloyd maunder | yes | — |
| Asda Marlborough | Beef mince | 2025-07-06 | Slaughtered in UK | No code | — | — | — |
| Co-op Norwich | whole chicken | 2025-06-27 | Space to thrive | 2037 | 2 Sisters | Yes | — |
| Co-op Norwich | Beef steak | 2025-06-27 | From farmers we know | 9012 | Dunbia | possible TB slaughter | — |
| Co-Op Salcombe | Whole chicken | 2025-07-06 | Space to thrive | 2037 | 2 sisters | yes | — |
| Co-Op Salcombe | Aberdeen Angus beef | 2025-07-06 | From farmers we know and trust | 9012 | dunbia | possible but | — |
| Co-Op Salcombe | Beef rump streak | 2025-07-06 | Red tractor certified standards | 9012 | dunbai | bovine tb slaughter | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Lamb Shoulder fillets | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 1106 | vion foods | no | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Aberdeen whole rib | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 1541 | ak stoddart | no indication | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | British short ribs beef | 2025-07-17 | Slaughter UK, Minced | 1598 | dunbai | was. If not still | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Aberdeen Angus mince | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 2100 | dawn meats | bovine removal | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Beef flank steak | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 2100 | dawn meats | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Stewing steak | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 2100 | dawn meats | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Braising steak | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 2100 | dawn meats | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Aberdeen steak | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 5106 | dawn meats | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Dry aged rump | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 5106 | dawn meats | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Lamb loin chops | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 7176 | st merryn meat | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Lamb hind shank | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 7176 | st merryn meat | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Boneless Lamb | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 7176 | st merryn meat | yes | — |
| Cosco Bracknell | Lamb mince | 2025-07-17 | Kirkland | 7176 | st merryn meat | yes | — |
| Iceland delivered | Chicken drumsteaks | 2025-07-16 | Cheapest possible £1.70 / 1.7kg | 5464 | banham poultry | yes | — |
| Iceland delivered | chicken | 2025-07-16 | slaughtered in Belguim | No code | — | — | — |
| Iceland delivered | lean beef | 2025-07-16 | slaughtered in Belguim | No code | — | — | — |
| Iceland delivered | beef quarter | 2025-07-16 | UK or Ireland | No code | — | — | — |
| Iceland delivered | chicken thighs | 2025-07-16 | Produced in Pol;and | No code | — | — | — |
| Iceland delivered | Lamb | 2025-07-16 | Origin NZ | No code | — | — | — |
| Iceland delivered | Beef stir fry | 2025-07-16 | slaughtered in Belguim | No code | — | — | — |
| Lidl Norwich | Meat balls | 2025-06-26 | Grass fed | 4071 | Dunbia | Yes | — |
| Lidl Norwich | chicken breast | 2025-06-26 | Happier and healthier | 4669 | Dunbia | Yes | — |
| Lidl Norwich | Extra large chicken | 2025-06-26 | Higher welfare | 7047 | ? | ? | — |
| Lidl Norwich | Chicken thigh | 2025-06-26 | Happier and healthier | 9502 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Morrison Bracknell | Whole chicken | 2025-07-03 | Space to grown | 2750 | Cranswick | No | — |
| Morrison Bracknell | British beef | 2025-07-03 | Basic | 4471 | Woodhead Bros | No | — |
| Morrison Bracknell | MInced beef | 2025-07-03 | Red tractor certified standards | 4787 | Grampian | ? | Either |
| Morrison Bracknell | Whole chicken | 2025-07-03 | The best. Cornfed. Free range | 5450 | Norfolk Poultry | No | — |
| Morrison Kingsbridge | Lamb (?) | 2025-07-05 | — | 2241 | Wooley Broths | ? | Either |
| Morrison Kingsbridge | Chicken breast | 2025-07-06 | Reared with more space. Higher welfare | 2750 | Cranswick | No | — |
| Morrison Kingsbridge | Beef burger | 2025-07-06 | — | 4787 | Grampians | Yes | — |
| sainsbury Woodland trust | whole chicken | 2025-06-26 | exclusively sourced and reared | 5450 | Norfolk Poultry | No | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Stuffed chicken | 2025-07-03 | No claims | 3011 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Chicken all types | 2025-07-03 | Healthier and Happier lives | 3011 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Sirloin beef steak | 2025-07-03 | Taste the difference. Producing the highest quality | 4073 | Busmere | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | So organic beef | 2025-07-03 | Expertly butchered | 4073 | Busmere | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Lamb shoulder | 2025-07-03 | British. Trusted farmers | 4073 | Ellesmere | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Beef brisket | 2025-07-03 | British. Trusted farmers | 7195 | Dunbal | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Welsh hill lamb | 2025-07-03 | Lush green Welsh hills | 7195 | Dunbal | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Bracknell | Free range chicken | 2025-07-03 | RSPCA assured. Explore woodlands and fields | 8005 | Lloyds Maunder | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Norwich | diced chicken | 2025-06-26 | More space to roam | 3011 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Norwich | Lamb steaks | 2025-06-26 | — | 7915 | ? | ? | — |
| Sainsburys Norwich | Whole chicken | 2025-06-26 | Happier and heathier life | 9502 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Sainsburys Norwich | Frozen chicken | 2025-06-26 | cheapest | 9502 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
| Tesco kingsbridg | steak | 2025-08-09 | — | 5416 | hilton food | y | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | Chicken Thigh | 2025-07-05 | Healthier and Happier | 4014 | Cargills | Yes | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | Chicken Thigh fillets | 2025-07-05 | Higher welfare promise. Peck, perch, play. | 4667 | Facienda | Yes | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | Turkey | 2025-07-05 | From trusted farms | 5049 | Bernard Matthews | Yes | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | Ground beed | 2025-07-05 | — | 5416 | Hilton Food | Yes | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | N Irish brisket beef | 2025-07-05 | From trusted farms | 5416 | Hilton Food | Yes | — |
| Tesco Kingsbridge | Lamb shoulder | 2025-07-17 | Finest | 7176 | st merryn meat | yes | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | Beef topside | 2025-07-03 | Higher welfare grass fed | 2015 | Wrtoc | No | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | British Wagyu beef | 2025-07-03 | From farmers we know and trust | 2045 | Dovecote Park | yes | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | Duchy Organic Beef | 2025-07-03 | Reared organically on grass and forage | 2045 | Dovecote Park | yes | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | British Lamb Organic | 2025-07-03 | Duchy Organic Prince Charles. Grass fed. Higher welfare | 6057 | Randal Parkers | Yes | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | Organic chicken | 2025-07-03 | Free range well cared for birds | 9509 | O Kane | No | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | Free range chicken | 2025-07-03 | Outdoors, slowly reared | 9509 | O Kane | No | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | Beef rolled breast | 2025-06-25 | Essential Waitrose | 2045 | Dovecote Park | yes | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | Beef short ribs | 2025-07-13 | Higher welfare | 2045 | Dovecote Park | yes | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | Turkey | 2025-07-13 | free to roam | 5004 | gressingham foods | halal certified | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | British lamb | 2025-06-25 | Higher welfare 'Farmers who share our values' | 6057 | Randal Parkers | Yes | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | Whole chicken | 2025-06-25 | Higher welfare | 9502 | Moy Park | Yes | — |
By volume (weight sample)
A parallel survey recording approximate pack weight in grams alongside the plant code, to estimate how much surveyed stock at each store carried codes associated with halal slaughter.
| Store | Meat | Date | Code | Weight (g) | Halal (survey) | Processor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldi Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 7176 | 60.0 | yes | st merryn meat | — |
| Marks and Spencer Norwich | beef | 2025-07-14 | 7195 | 100.0 | yes | st merryn meat | — |
| Marks and Spencer Norwich | lamb | 2025-07-14 | 7195 | 150.0 | yes | st merryn meat | — |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 7195 | 150.0 | yes | st merryn meat | — |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | lamb | 2025-07-13 | 7195 | 150.0 | yes | st merryn meat | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 2037 | 100.0 | yes | 2 sisters | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 7009 | 40.0 | yes | 2 sisters | — |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 4073 | 120.0 | yes | busmore | — |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | lamb | 2025-07-13 | 4073 | 50.0 | yes | busmore | — |
| Morrisons Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 2750 | 420.0 | no | Cranswick | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 2045 | 560.0 | yes | dovecote | — |
| Morrisons Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 4471 | 20.0 | yes | Dunbia | — |
| Aldi Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 4109 | 220.0 | no | EC BPC | — |
| Morrisons Bracknell | beef | 2025-07-13 | 4787 | 450.0 | yes | Grampians | — |
| Marks and Spencer Norwich | beef | 2025-07-14 | 2056 | 100.0 | ? | Linden food | bse |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 8005 | 200.0 | yes | lloyd mauder | — |
| Sainsbury Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 3011 | 250.0 | yes | Moy park | — |
| Waitrose wymondham | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 9502 | 100.0 | yes | moy park | cheapest frozen |
| Waitrose Bracknell | chicken | 2025-07-13 | 9509 | 132.0 | no | o kane | — |
| Marks and Spencer Norwich | various | 2025-07-14 | — | — | 3000+ | processed with no number | — |
| Waitrose Wymondham | various | 2025-07-13 | — | — | 1000+ | processed with no number | — |
| Waitrose Bracknell | lamb | 2025-07-13 | 6057 | 120.0 | yes | Randal parker | — |
| Waitrose wymondham | Lamb | 2025-07-13 | 6057 | 150.0 | yes | Randal parker | duchy original |
| Marks and Spencer Norwich | beef | 2025-07-14 | 1715 | 100.0 | ? | — | — |
| Coop Brundall | chicken | 2025-07-16 | 2027 | 70.0 | ? | — | — |
| Lidl Norwich | chicken | 2025-07-11 | 4469 | 450.0 | ? | — | — |
| Lidl Norwich | chicken | 2025-07-11 | 7047 | 150.0 | ? | — | — |
Bowood Lamb abattoir footage
Warning: The stills below are from undercover footage of animal abuse at a halal slaughterhouse. Some readers may find them distressing.
In February 2015, ITV News reported on hidden-camera footage from Animal Aid inside the Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire — a facility that supplied meat into the wider UK retail chain. The article described “horrific” abuse that appeared to break both animal welfare law and the halal code. The FSA suspended four slaughtermen and said prosecutions could follow.
Read the ITV News report (3 February 2015)
Footage, courtesy of Animal Aid, was taken inside the slaughterhouse and shows the animals in distress.
Credit: Animal Aid / ITV News
Animals can apparently be seen having their throats hacked and sawed by a worker wearing the traditional Muslim kufi skullcap and muttering the words Allahu Akbar (God is great). In one instance, it took five attempts to sever blood vessels.
Credit: Animal Aid / PA Wire
Sheep being kicked in the face and head, lifted by their ears, fleeces or legs, and hurled into solid structures.
Credit: Animal Aid / PA Wire
A worker standing on the neck of a conscious sheep and bouncing up and down.
Credit: Animal Aid / PA Wire
Staff taunting and frightening animals by waving knives, smacking them on the head and shouting at them. Staff also erupted into laughter over a sheep bleeding to death with spectacles drawn around her eyes in green paint.
Credit: Animal Aid / BBC News
In-store and shelf photography
Photographs and short clips from UK supermarket visits, shown in filename order from super1 onward (super18 and super38 are not present in the file set). Click any photo to view it full size; use arrow keys or the on-screen controls to move between photos.
Supermarkets with Halal Sections (UK)
As an additional note, several UK supermarkets also openly stock a clearly labelled halal range, usually in a dedicated section or aisle. This is a secondary point: labelled halal is at least visible, so customers who want it can find it and customers who want to avoid it can see it on the label. The central concern of this page remains the hidden halal — the standard own-brand meat that is blessed or religiously slaughtered and then sold unlabelled to everyone.
- Tesco
- Asda
- Sainsbury's
- Waitrose
- Morrisons
- Iceland
- Lidl & Aldi (select products)
Sources
Source list
- ITV News, “Horrific animal abuse captured on halal slaughterhouse spycam,” 3 February 2015 (Animal Aid footage from Bowood Lamb abattoir, Thirsk).
- Sainsbury's customer correspondence, October–November 2025 (case IDs COR-202510-14369, COR-202510-22228, COR-202511-3022, COR-202511-18321).
- Waitrose customer correspondence, April–May 2021 (Amy Martin, Nicola Merrison, Esther Moschini, Customer Care).
- Mail on Sunday investigation into halal labelling, September 2010 (Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S).
- The Daily Mail, “Waitrose forced to ditch halal lamb from Prince of Wales' Duchy range,” 3 October 2010.
- The Saffron Walden Reporter, January 2011 (Waitrose NZ lamb halal blessing).
- Randall Parker Foods company website and halal certification statements.
- UK supermarket plant-code field survey, June–July 2025 (individual product codes and by-volume sample; spreadsheet source in data/6).
- Farmers Guide magazine, October 2025 industry response report.
- HalalSpy, Muslim consumer information website.
- “Halal by Plant Number's Blog”, Muslim consumer reference website.
- isithalalorharam.com, Muslim critique of HFA certification.
- Halal Food Authority (HFA) certified supplier lists.
- US Department of Agriculture report on New Zealand sheep slaughter.
- New Zealand Meat Industry Association (MIA) public statements.
- Beef Magazine, reporting on New Zealand halal slaughter.
- The Halal Food Guy, NZ red meat export slaughter premises overview.
- Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) certification statements.
- UK Parliamentary research briefing on religious slaughter.
- Sustainable Food Trust, commentary on Sainsbury's NZ lamb sourcing.
- Free Speech Backlash, “A Decade and a Half of Obstruction.”