What is this Halal food? Is it different from kosher?
You might have heard of kosher food.Halal is Arabic for permissible. Halal is Islamic dietary law that applies, among other things, to meat and poultry, specifically prescribing certain slaughtering of animals and poultry (dhabiha) and processing practices.
Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass. During the process, a Muslim will recite a dedication, know as tasmiya or shahada. Like some other religious dietary practice, halal prohibits pork and alcohol consumption.
Is halal different from kosher meat?
Kosher food complies with Jewish dietary law (kashrut), again governing what can and cannot be eaten by those practising the faith. There are similarities in the method of slaughter in that both require use of a surgically sharp knife and specially-trained slaughtermen. Unlike for halal, kashrut does not require God’s name to be said before every slaughter after an initial blessing.
Kashrut forbids the consumption of certain parts of the carcass, including the sciatic nerve and particular fats. Halal also forbids consumption of some carcass parts including the testicles and bladder.
Check the home page of wholehalal and this one to see some Halal product listings.
references:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27324224blo
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/what-halal-about