Airline passenger news and views

I suppose that you cannot blame the company for wanting to make their production line more efficient. The problem is that this comes at a time when people will see it as having a politically correct or maybe even semi-religious background.
Britain risks becoming a Muslim country by neglect of our Christian religion. People may see this as just one more step on that path.

Many people will see this as having religious overtones. I hope that BA and the other airlines resist the move.

From what I hear on the news, this problem is not limited to airline food. It seems that lots of food companies are making the decision to use single production systems working to Halal standards.
Do we get any say inn this decision?

I am not a active animal rights supporter but I do think we have to take some regard for the way that we treat our animals. The ritual killing required for halal (or approved) food is, to our standards, somewhat barbaric.
I understand that there are arguments that the food is cleaner in that the blood is drained from it, and I can see how that might have been an important consideration two thousand years ago. But, we have moved on in science, we can guarantee meat quality without making animals suffer.
Before we take a step backwards, should there not be a public discussion bout this?

According to a report there are around 3% of Muslims in Britain, seems very unfair to me that the remaining 97% have to have halal forced on us. I for one will never eat it. Having watched videos of the slaughter it is putrid, barbaric and sick!

The big problem is with lamb. It seems that the other meats are generally ok but, with a lot of UK lamb coming in from New Zealand, we no longer seem to have any choice in what we buy.
Why were we not told earlier about this? Surely this is the kind of thing that the Food Standards Board ought to be monitoring?

Barbaric? - perhaps somewhat less so than shooting a metal spike into the animals brain or electrocuting it to within an inch of its life and then dragging it to slaughter. All this for (non halal) meat which is then full of potentially harm causing blood.
Freedom of choice? - Of course people should have the right to choose non-halal meat as they do halal meat. But would you pay more for (in my opinion at least) inferior meat? - If you are honestly against halal meat then PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.
p.s. - the same arguments apply to kosher meat too.

my2cents raises an interesting point about the actual quality of meat and the slaughter process. The sad thing is that I do not know the answer and, I guess, nor do most people.
Halal and Kosher have been around for a long time and have survived for good reasons. They provide a safe and hygienic method of slaughter and probably one that is reasonable from an animal husbandry viewpoint. The ancient religions introduced and enforced the principles for sound health reasons long before we had modern science.
I do not know enough to make a judgement call on the pros and cons of the meat or the slaughter but I am am unhappy that the issue has come up without much (or any) prior discussion.
I am not particularly anti-Islam or anti-any religion but I do think that this damages religious respect and generates unwanted suspicions

There was a list in the paper the other day of the supermarkets that stock Halal lamb as standard. Where do they get the idea that we want this?
The hills all around me are full of Welsh sheep and next Spring will be another hard time for Welsh farmers as supermarkets push down stock prices. Why are we importing NZ lamb when farming families here are unable to make a decent living and moving away from the land?

Wake up people and look beyond your confines. The world has changed to a global society and GateGourmet being an international firm, preparing over 200 million meals for an all international client of 230 Airlines in 120 countries has to take a business decision. Should its specialised meals Halal, Kosher styled preparation be a standard or still be a specialised offering? My guess is ,on a scale, the consumption of halal/non-halal offering tilts in the direction of halal standardisation making more business sense. Simple. Its numbers that count sometimes for the company to remain competitive.

Mr Irub is correct but, with respect, I think he misses the point.
Yes, GateGormet has made a sensible commercial decision well suited to the International market in which they operate.
The complaints and fuss that the publicity has caused is based on a feeling of frustration that 'our' English rights and traditions are being pushed aside without any consultation. I do not think it is just anti-halal. The grumbles are also about genetically modified foods which have arrived and become part of our life without much discussion.
I actually have no idea whether halal procedures lead to tastier meat or even if they are more or less consistent with animal welfare. I am just annoyed that the rules seem to have changed and no-one asked me.

I will not be flying with BA anymore. It is shameful that companies are giving in on Islamic ways and forcing everyone including Sikhs and Hindus, who do not eat halal to abandon meat and now BA.

I urge K Singh to have a voice write to BA....it is people like yourself who will make a change...just for info ....consuming halal meat for certain people is forbidden the same way non halal meat is for muslims. All airlines and not just BA do not openly say that the meat they serve is Halal. People have a right to make an informed choice BEFORE digging their naan into the chicken tikka masala!

I think the world has become much tolerant than it was before as we can see the supermarkets, airlines, department stores and so on have adopted the diverse cultural approach and their purpose are the same, it is to get closer to people and to meet the diverse needs. It is a development of humanities in such a way respecting each other whether you are the minority or the minority groups. It is a good way of showing good and Honorable gestures to any other people regardless of their genders, racial and social backgrounds. For being a truly civilized and inclusive society, it is so easy to pull the gap of differences even closer.
It seems to me that the core issue is not about the food neither how an animal is killed, nor what it is tasted like, but it is about the pride and prejudice. It would be good to look into the topic in an open-minded way. Halal meat is the belief of some people as they think they are safer to eat. A lot of non-religious people also believe that it is true.