theCriticalCanadian

📣I CONTACTED COSTCO AND SUNRISE FARMS. HERE'S WHAT I FOUND.📣 A Costco meat manager confirmed to me that Kirkland-branded chicken, beef, and lamb are halal-certified. Organic chicken is not. I was told this has been the practice for YEARS. The beef is certified, but if opened and cut in store it is "no longer Halal". I also contacted Sunrise Farms, which confirmed that they are halal-certified. However, when I asked whether they stun animals BEFORE slaughter, I was transferred and received no answer. Lilydale is now owned by Sofina Foods, but I was unable to reach anyone there by phone. SO WHAT DOES HALAL SLAUGHTER MEAN? Halal slaughter requires a prescribed religious method, including a throat incision and a prayer or invocation. The use of stunning depends on the halal certification requirements: some halal standards permit reversible stunning before the cut; others do not. In conventional slaughter, animals are generally stunned before the cut to render them unconscious. The important question is whether halal-certified meat is produced using pre-slaughter stunning or without it. WHAT DOES CANADIAN LAW SAY? Under Canada's federal slaughter regulations, religious slaughter may be conducted without prior stunning under specified conditions. The rules require the animal to be unconscious before it is suspended and dead before dressing procedures begin. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates slaughter practices, but halal certification alone does not tell consumers whether an animal was stunned before its throat was cut. MY QUESTION IS SIMPLE: If consumers are buying halal-certified meat without realizing it, shouldn't they be able to find out exactly how the animals were slaughtered? I contacted these companies to get answers. I still have an important unanswered question: **ARE THE ANIMALS STUNNED BEFORE SLAUGHTER?** Consumers deserve clear, transparent answers.